Internet voting increases expatriate voter turnout

Cross-border migration has increased rapidly in recent decades. In response, most democracies have extended voting rights to their citizens abroad. Nevertheless, expatriate voter turnout tends be low. This article investigates a frequently proposed remedy—internet voting—based on case study of internet trials eight Swiss cantons. For causal identification, I exploit an unexpected federal intervention that led temporary suspension four the cantons, during which expatriates could vote only by mail. Using difference-in-differences estimation, find decreased among registered voters 4.1 6.4 percentage points. Placebo tests suggest pre- and post-suspension trends were close identical treated control cases. Overall, results this represents effective method increase electoral participation Still, remained well-below domestic even with available, suggesting high costs are not reason why abroad tend at lower rates.