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Electronic voting - for people with vision impairment

List of E Centres
What is electronic voting?
Postal and general postal voters
Is electronic voting secure?
Background on electronic voting

If you are vision impaired and unable to vote independently, you can vote electronically at an E Centre. You can vote electronically on election day (Saturday, 25 November) or you can vote before election day from Monday, 13 November. Electronic voting is only available for people with vision impairment who are unable to vote independently. Voters who meet these criteria and who have applied for a postal vote for the 2006 State election or are registered as a general postal voter (GPV) can also vote electronically.

Early voting hours of operation:
Monday, 13 November to Friday, 24 November (weekdays)
8.30am to 6.00pm

Saturday, 18 November
9.00am to 2.00pm

Thursday, 23 November
8.30am to 8.00pm

Election day hours of operation:
Saturday, 25 November 8.00am to 6.00pm

All E Centres are fully wheelchair accessible

Alternative formats on electronic voting at the 2006 State election:

	Audio file (MP3, 1235KB)
	Large print file (RTF, 27KB)

List of E Centres

Ballarat
Vision Australia
1300 Howitt Street, Wendouree

Melbourne CBD
Melbourne Town Hall
Cnr Collins and Swanston Streets

Heidelberg
Olympic Leisure Centre
15 Alamein Road, Heidelberg West

Shepparton
Vision Australia
Cnr Archer Street and Channel Road, Shepparton

Kooyong
Vision Australia
454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong

Warragul
Vision Australia
2A Mouritz Street, Warragul

What is electronic voting?

Voting electronically involves using a computer with a touch-screen, keypad and headphones. If you choose to use headphones, voting instructions and options are read to you.

You can also choose to have instructions and candidate options displayed in large text or small text, and with white text on a black background or black text on a white background. An election official can set these options for you or you can choose them for yourself.

After your name is marked off the roll:

In place of a ballot paper, you receive an "electorate card." The electorate card is encoded with your electorate details, along with any display and audio options you request when your name is marked off the roll. No personal details are recorded. There is no way to identify a voter through an electronically cast vote.
Take your card to a voting kiosk and insert it into a reader to the left of the monitor. This activates the process and ensures that the correct ballot papers appear on the screen.
Follow the instructions to navigate through the screens and cast your vote. The computer will first provide instructions on how to use it, along with options to change display and audio options.
Vote by following these steps:
After you cast your vote, remove your electorate card and return it to an election official.
After the election closes at 6.00pm on Saturday 25 November, your ballot papers are printed by the VEC and included in the count.

Electronic voting is entirely voluntary. You can quit the system and ask for paper ballots at any time before you cast your vote electronically. If you quit the system, you must return your electorate card to an election official.

Postal and general postal voters

You can vote electronically at an E Centre if you are blind or vision impaired and have applied for a postal vote for the 2006 State election or are a registered general postal voter (GPV).

If you have already received ballot material in the mail:
Please bring the ballot material with you to the E Centre and return it to the election official who will record your details and issue you with an electorate card so you can vote electronically.

If you have not yet received ballot material in the mail:
Let the election official at the E Centre know that you have applied for a postal vote for the 2006 State election or are a registered General Postal Voter (GPV). The election official will record your details and issue you with an electorate card. When you receive your ballot material in the mail, please mark the ballots with the wording "Already voted" and return post them using the reply paid envelope provided.

Is electronic voting secure?

Hewlett-Packard, in partnership with Scytl Secure Electronic Voting, designed the software for electronic voting. Scytl is a world-leading expert in secure voting systems. The system includes a number of security features to ensure that your vote is accurately recorded and stored safely.

Security features include:

Recording your votes in two different places in the computer - on the hard disk and on a USB key.
An independent software module that reads your vote back to you during the verification step, so that you can double-check the vote.
Voting computers enclosed in sealed, transparent cases to prevent and detect unauthorised access to the computer.
No connection to any network, making it impossible to access voting computers via the internet.
An uninterruptible power supply that allows the kiosks to operate for at least half an hour in the event of a power failure. This allows voters who have started voting to complete their vote. Votes already cast will not be affected by a power failure.
Only authorised VEC staff are able to view votes. This can only happen at the end of the election and must involve at least two election officials present together.
Extensive tests conducted by the VEC and an independent expert auditor who will also examine the source code to ensure that voting is secure, accurate and free from any malicious code. The software will only be used after it has completely passed these tests.

Background on electronic voting

In 2005, the Victorian Parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee concluded an inquiry into electronic democracy. This included electronic voting.

The VEC made a submission to the Committee. It suggested the introduction of a pilot of electronic voting kiosks to enable secret voting for people with vision impairment, motor impairment or low proficiency in English. Download the VEC's submission or the Committee's final report (external link).

Legislation to allow electronic voting was passed by Parliament in July 2006. The Electoral and Parliamentary Committees Legislation (Amendment) Act 2006 (external link) restricts electronic voting to voters "who because of a visual impairment cannot otherwise vote without assistance."

The VEC is piloting electronic voting at six E Centres around Victoria at this November's election. The VEC will seek feedback from users after the trial to assess its use.