Electronic votes are set to be cast in the state of Victoria Monday, marking a first for Australia in any state election.
In a bid to increase access to voting, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has launched an e-voting pilot.
People who are vision impaired will cast their votes from 6 p.m. for the forthcoming state election which is being held on November 25, 2006.
The Victorian government passed legislation in July to enable the initiative.
There are an estimated 53,500 vision impaired voters in Victoria.
In addition to Monday’s pilot, e-centers have also been established for those who cannot vote on election day.
The VEC is piloting electronic voting at six e-centers.
E-voting software used at the centers has been provided by Hewlett-Packard in partnership with Scytl Secure Electronic Voting.
Voting computers are not connected to a network so they cannot be accessed from the Internet.
An independent software auditor has certified the source code to ensure it is secure and free from malicious code.