Electronically assisted voting for the Victorian State Election

Voters with sight, literacy or English language difficulties, or a motorskill impairment, will be able to cast a secret, independent vote during the early voting period in one of several ways during this year’s Victorian State election.

Electronically Assisted Voting (EAV) was trialled successfully in 2006 by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) and is now being expanded for the 2010 State election.  If voting via this assistive means, voters will have the option of using a telephone voting facility at any of the 100 early voting centres across the State. A total of 208 supervised telephones will be provided for voters to record their vote via the telephone keypad.  Recorded instructions will guide the voter through the voting process with audio prompts in twelve languages:

• English
• Arabic
• Cantonese
• Mandarin
• Croatian
• Greek
• Italian
• Khmer (Cambodian)
• Macedonian
• Serbian
• Turkish
• Vietnamese.

  At least two telephones will be provided at all 100 early voting centres.

Almost half of the early voting centres will also have the option of an EAV touchscreen. The VEC will provide 79 supervised touchscreens across 47 early voting centres. Voters can listen to audio cues via a headset and use the touchscreen unaided to make their selections and cast their vote. This system also has the capacity to provide audio cues in twelve languages (if required) including English. All votes cast by either touchscreens or telephones will be anonymous.

Once the voter is marked off the roll, they are offered a practice session on either the touchscreen or telephone. Once they feel confident to proceed, they can cast their vote and will be offered a receipt to verify later that their vote was received. The receipt will not contain a record of how they voted and they will not be able to review how they voted when checking that it was received.

Votes recorded electronically via either the touchscreen or the telephone will be centrally received and printed to paper after the close of voting. These votes will then be included with votes collected in the traditional manner. The system is highly secure and reliable.

Voters will be advised if they are at risk of casting an informal vote and asked if they want to proceed or change their selection.  At any point prior to the vote being cast, the voter can also abandon the system and ask for a paper ballot paper if they prefer.

EAV will only be available during the early voting period prior to election day - not on election day itself. Early voting commences on Monday 15 November and runs through to 6pm on Friday 26 November. As voting by telephone or the kiosk takes longer, voters should allow at least 10-15 minutes for electronically completing the ballot papers, but should allow 20-30 minutes for the entire process. Specially trained election staff will be on hand to assist voters experiencing any difficulties. Relatives and friends may also vote early if they have assisted blind or low vision electors to attend the early voting centre, however they will be provided with regular paper ballots.

Electronically assisted voting will also be available for Victorian voters at seven interstate locations and four locations within the United Kingdom.

For further information about the Victorian State election, or electronically assisted voting, please call 131 832 or visit the VEC website.