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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 10 Hansard (18 October) . . Page.. 3166 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):
E-voting will be combined with manual data entry of paper ballots completed at ordinary polling places on polling day or by postal voters. The data from these ballots will be manually entered into a computerised backend scrutiny system. This data combined with the E-voting data will provide for a fully computerised election count.
This Bill amends the Electoral Act 1992 and the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994 to allow for:
� electronic ballot papers;
� electronic capture of ballot information; and
� electronic counting of ballots.
The Bill also allows for the use of electronic data to determine outcomes for recounts and for the filling of casual vacancies.
In addition, the Bill allows for:
� the security of electronic voting and vote counting processes;
� processes for disputed elections where electronic voting and counting have been used;
� offences related to interfering with electronic voting or vote counting; and
� publication of electronic voting statistics.
The ACT is the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce legislation that will allow for electronic voting. While electronic vote counting has be used for the Senate and Upper House elections in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, no other jurisdiction has extended their Electoral Act in the way this Bill does. It is hoped in the future that when suitable and secure technology is available that electronic voting could be extended further to Internet voting.
Mr Speaker, I am pleased to introduce this Bill which will allow electronic voting to be trialled in pre-poll voting centres and a limited number of polling places at the next ACT election in October 2001. It will also allow for the count for the election to be fully computerised.
Debate (on motion by Mr Quinlan ) adjourned.
Mr Humphries , on behalf of the Attorney-General, presented the bill and its explanatory memorandum.
Title read by Acting Clerk.
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