Remote Voting by Electronic Means : Some Legal and Political Objections

—Pierre Lévy, amongst other authors, argues that e-technology will lead to a rebirth of the ancient agora; a virtual marketplace of political ideas in which all members of a new worldwide on-line political community can take part in an expanded democracy. It is argued herein that Lévy is fundamentally mistaken; there are important legal objections to on-line voting and Lévy's conception of the agora is historically flawed. The central thesis of this paper is that, contrary to Lévy, there are some areas of public life which ought to remain substantially e-free zones. This is not to argue that e-technology has no place in democratic practice, merely that its role should be restricted.