People should be offered the opportunity to cast their vote online in the 2020 general election, a commission set up by House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has said.

The Digital Democracy Commission also recommends that MPs could be questioned through an internet forum to enable the public to take part in Commons debates.

The report also recommends that MPs who are unwell or have childcare responsibilities should be able to vote in the Commons electronically, without having to go into the chamber.

The commission recommends ending restrictions on members of the public using mobile phones in the public galleries in the Commons and said the house should experiment with providing live social media coverage of debates.

Moves to make it possible to casting a ballot online in elections by 2020 would be complemented by changes in political education in schools in an effort to encourage young people to register to vote.

The report follows a general decline in voter participation in general elections since the second world war.

In 2012, just 14% of voters turned out for the first ever elections for police and crime commissioners – the worst in British political history for a nationwide poll.

It also makes recommendations to facilitate better scrutiny and improve the legislative process.

“In a year where we reflect on our long democratic heritage, it is imperative that we look also to the future and how we can modernise our democracy to meet the changing needs of modern society,” the report says.

In an interview for the BBC Radio 4’s Can Democracy Work? series, Bercow added that there was a “growing appetite for online voting”.

He said: “Now I don’t mean by that that it will necessarily at any stage be compulsory to vote in that way, but I think that the notion that, if it can be established as secure and reliable people should have the option to vote online, will gain ground more and more and more.”

The planned election in 2020 “could be the first election in which people have the opportunity – they’re not under any obligation – to vote online”.

Bercow said the idea of an online forum enabling members of the public to have their say in Commons debates was exciting.

“For members of parliament whilst conducting their debate, to be aware of and capable of responding to what people outside are saying, would at least start to fuse the two parts of the body politic,” he said.

“I don’t know whether I would call it a chamber but the idea of there being potentially a simultaneous dialogue between chambers of parliament and members of the public, seems to me not an idea to be afraid of at all. It’s actually quite an exciting idea.”

Countries using forms of e-voting include the US, Brazil, Belgium, Estonia, the Philippines and India. The term “e-voting” includes online voting where electors can cast their ballot from any computer using a secure ID.

Electronic voting began in the 1960s, with the use of punched card systems. Since then, more modern systems have been introduced and include electronic machines in polling stations operated by buttons or touchscreens which connect to a central database.

Graham Allen, the Labour chair of the political and constitutional reform committee, said: “Parliament more than any other institution has to show it wants to improve our democracy. That’s why I warmly welcome Mr Speaker’s initiative to make parliament and our democracy more relevant to the digital age. This is a radical package of reforms essential to revive the health of our democracy.”