IZBORNI PROCESI U DIGITALNOM DOBU

Abstract

The next step in modernizing the traditional electoral procedure is being considered in the context of using technological and informational devices, the internet, and digital technologies as tools for ensuring the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the process. Elections represent a highly sensitive area, given that their primary purpose is to establish and legitimize state authority. Until now, they have been carried out relying solely on the activities of people as the bearers of electoral administration. However, in the era of technological development, the need has emerged to entrust certain electoral steps to smart devices in order to simplify the procedure. Nevertheless, the central electoral phase – the voting phase – raises the most disagreement on this issue, and for good reason, a debate is ongoing in many expert circles about whether electronic voting can replace the traditional method of voter expression. In this paper, the author analyzes the issue of using the internet and technological-informational devices in the electoral process, with a focus on the advantages and disadvantages these models bring. The research also includes other phases of the election in which modern technologies are applied. The analysis takes into consideration the preliminary or preparatory phase of elections, which includes political campaigns of the candidates, increasingly present on social networks, as well as the final phase of elections. An integral part of the discussion is the question of the protection of electoral rights in the digital age, including the analysis of potential risks that may arise from the use of modern technologies.