Aussies vote for electronic polling: survey - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Aussies vote for electronic polling: survey

By James Pearce, ZDNet Australia
December 17, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Aussies-vote-for-electronic-polling-survey/0,139023166,120270740,00.htm

Three quarters of Australians support the introduction of some form of electronic voting, a survey has revealed.

The survey of 1,000 voters was commissioned by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and conducted in the three days following the Cunningham by-election. Despite the positive response, Australians are unlikely to see e-voting join the traditional paper-based voting at the next election.

"It would require cabinet to want to pass an amendment to the current electoral act for this to happen," Phil Diak, director of Information for the Australian Electoral Commission told ZDNet Australia .

Of the three options suggested the most popular with respondents was the ability to vote over the Internet from any location either before or on polling day, with 60 percent feeling it to be a good idea. The next most popular was using a computer to vote in a polling booth on polling day, with 55 percent of respondents thinking this was a good idea. Only 50 percent of respondents thought using a computer to vote at another location, such as a shopping centre, before or on polling day was a good idea.

However, when it came to which system would be used by the respondent, voting on a computer in a polling booth on polling day proved to be the most popular, with 60 percent of respondents indicating they would use this method of voting, compared to 55 percent saying they would vote over the Internet.

"People responded most positively to [voting over the Internet]," said Diak, "but when it came to which one they were most likely to use they went for [using a computer at a polling booth], which is maybe in the comfort zone."

Of the people surveyed, 76 percent indicated approval of at least one e-voting method and 31 percent supported all three methods.

People most likely to support e-voting lie in the 25-34 age group, have an income in excess of AU$80,000, have Internet access at home and have used Internet services such as Internet banking or paying bills online.