The Use of Electronic Vote Within the Political Parties

In addition, the system usually gives them powers in areas of great relevance, such as the presentation of electoral candidates. It is also no news to remember that these entities suffer from bureaucratizing and elitist drifts that often end up in the so-called partitocracy, that is, a scenario in which the intermediary theorist ends up assuming such prominence that denatures both citizen participation in elections and Parliamentary and governmental dynamics. That is why the internal democratic structure and functioning are recognized as constitutional requirements. Various formulas are also tested so that political parties can exercise their role as mediators with solvency.

Digital technology has brought new dimensions to an old-fashioned debate since there are now procedures that, based on internet voting, allow direct intervention by the affiliates themselves, or supporters, that seemed impossible with traditional mechanisms. Like any new decision mechanism, there are clear utilities, but also some challenges and even threats. Although, for example, Internet voting offers enormous flexibility, it is no less certain that questions about its security or transparency arise and it is not easy to gauge the impact of a direct decision procedure on the necessary deliberative component of such procedures.

Be that as it may, the truth is that Spanish political parties have decidedly opted for internet voting in recent years and have also done so without such technology being admitted in parliamentary or municipal elections. It is a relevant phenomenon in which it is necessary to ask about the way in which such entities have adopted this technology and the level of guarantees existing in each of them. Remember, for example, that there are already widely recognized texts at international level, such as the Council of Europe Recommendation 2017 (5), which, although not directly applicable to the parties, establish a very useful analytical framework.

On the other hand, it is also convenient to analyze how legislation on political parties addresses its internal structure and functioning. Although the Constitution establishes that the parties must adopt democratic criteria, the regulations are limited to collecting very generic guidelines that are far from the detailed and technical criteria that would require a normative development of electronic voting.

That is why the regulation of this technology, not being included in the law of political parties, is entrusted to the good judgment of each party, but such a conclusion should not imply that the parties can implement it in any way. They remain subject in any case to the requirement of having internal structures and democratic functioning. In this sense, the full text of this contribution provides more details both on the regulation of the internal life of Spanish political parties and on the actual use of electronic voting by such entities.

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