With the final results from the 2016 federal election about to be confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission, Vision Australia is asking the 45th Parliament to reconsider electronic voting.
Vision Australia General Manager Queensland, Karen Knight stated the use of electronic voting at the federal election would have avoided anxiety around the prospect of a hung parliament and allowed over 310,000 voters their constitutional right to an independent and secret vote.
“The time has come to make a change. If the majority of absentee and postal voting were replaced with readily available electronic voting technology, election results could be announced earlier”, Ms Knight, who has been blind since birth, advised.
“Taking a more consistent approach to the use of electronic voting across state and federal jurisdictions would not just benefit the broader community – it would increase the confidence of voters who are blind or have low vision in the system being used to record their votes.”
The voting options at the federal election, that were made available to the blindness and low vision community included phoning into a call centre where an Operator recorded the vote with an Independent Verifier looking on. Alternatively, a person could invite someone to fill in their postal vote, or their ballot paper at a polling booth.
“It is not acceptable that a person who is blind or has low vision is still unable to vote independently and in secret at federal elections,” Ms Knight said.
Electronic voting technology exists in a variety of formats and has been successfully used at State elections for many years. A remote electronic voting system, called iVote, which allows a vote to be cast independently and in private, was introduced by the New South Wales Electoral Commission at the 2011 State election.
That year, the system was used by 47,000 individuals to cast their vote and by the 2015 NSW election the number had increased dramatically to 284,000.
“Vision Australia believes the NSW iVote system is current best practice in independent and secret accessible voting”, confirmed Ms Knight
Originally designed for people who are blind or low vision it allows a person to place their vote independently and anonymously by using the keypad on a telephone or computer.
“The NSW system is not just available to people with disability or restricted mobility. Anyone in a remote location, or who is travelling interstate or overseas at the time of an election has this voting option available to them, which explains its growing popularity,” Ms Knight confirmed.
The right to cast a secret vote is guaranteed by the Australian Constitution and Australian Parliaments have an obligation to enact legislation and provide sufficient resources to offer an equitable voting experience. Additionally, the right to participate in political life is asserted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Australia is a party to this Treaty.
“At the recent federal election more than 310,000 voters were denied their constitutional right. Despite arguments about security, we are increasingly living our lives online. We share our most personal information and preferences when we bank, do our taxes, date, use social media – and, we’re about to participate online in the next Census.
“The Government needs to stop this discrimination against people who are blind or have low vision by introducing an accessible electronic voting system that allows them to place a truly independent and secret vote.
“We didn’t get it at this election, but we want to see it in place at the next federal election,” Ms Knight concluded.