BCA National Policy: Access to an independent, secret and verifiable vote - Victoria and Federal information
Victorian Parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Inquiry into Electronic Democracy
Victorian Trial of Electronic Voting – 2006 State Election
Federal Election 2007 – Trial of Electronic Assisted Voting:
Back to BCA National Policy Page: Access to an independent, secret and verifiable vote
In January 2005 BCA made a submission to the Victorian Parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Inquiry into Electronic Democracy advocating for Electronic Assisted Voting (EAV) and other electronic assisted technology to enhance democracy for people who are blind or vision impaired.
The final report of the inquiry was released during May 2005. BCA is pleased to see the Committee recommend that the “The Victorian Electoral Commission, in consultation with relevant stakeholder groups, should develop and implement a system of electronic voting machines for local and general elections in Victoria. These machines should: Permit the casting of a private, unassisted vote for the blind, those Victorians with limited vision, and Victorians with low levels of English literacy”.
(see: Recommendation 53 View the entire Final Report)
July, 2006. The Victorian Government has announced that at the November 2006 Victorian state election, three Melbourne sites, as well as Ballarat in central Victoria and Shepparton in the north-east, will trial electronic voting. The trial will involve special electronic voting kiosks that will have a standard computer with touch screen, keypad and headphones.
Visit the Victorian Electoral Commission website article for further information.
In March 2005, BCA made a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) review of the November 2004 Federal election. As with the submission to the Victorian e-democracy inquiry, BCA’s submission to the JSCEM included a diagram of Electronic Assisted Voting (EAV), similar to the one used for the Victorian E-Democracy Inquiry described above.
The JSCEM Report into the conduct of the 2004 Federal Election was tabled in Parliament on October 10, 2005. On the matter of accessible voting for people who are blind or vision impaired, Recommendation 41 called for a trial of electronic voting. The HTML version of the report can be viewed on the Committee’s website. Chapter 11 covers ‘Technology and the electoral system’. Parliamentary tabling speeches can be viewed here.
Federal Election 2007 – Trial of Electronic Assisted Voting: August, 2006: Australian Government announces a trial of electronic assisted voting for the 2007 Federal Election. The trial will be implemented by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to allow people who are blind or vision impaired to vote independently through the use of electronically-assisted voting machines. The trial will be conducted at 30 selected pre-poll voting centres. If successful, the government will consider extending the trial at the 2010 election.