One of the great Australian contributions to liberal democracy is the
secret ballot
. Originally implemented in Victoria and NSW, this technology spread throughout democracies and became known as the 'Australian ballot'. The secret ballot is now a necessity for any democratic election to be judged legitimate, fair and just. Consequently, it is good to
see blind and visually impaired Australians having the democratic right to enter a secret ballot paper
into the federal ballot box.
The
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
in their
inquiry into the 2004 election
included in their recommendations;
The Committee recommends that a trial of an electronic voting system be implemented at an appropriate location in each electorate to assist blind and visually impaired people, who currently cannot cast a secret and independently verifiable vote.
a) In terms of the type of electronic voting system, and the most appropriate locations, the AEC should liaise with relevant groups, and then report back to the Committee with its proposal.
b) Following the election, the AEC should report back to the Committee on all aspects of the trial.
It appears that the Federal Government is acting on this recommendation. The Blind Citizens of Australia have been
an advocate for secret ballots
for the vision impaired. From their submission to the JSCEM;
Blind Citizens Australia argues that the current federal voting system is discriminatory because it does not allow
people who are blind the right to cast an independent, secret ballot.
To remedy this explicit inequity in the federal voting system, Blind Citizens Australia advocates for the introducing of Electronic Assisted Voting (EAV) in all future Federal elections.
This decision by the federal government hasn't been the first attempts to independently involve vision impaired voters, the Victorian Electoral Commission has run special ballot centres with magnifying glasses and braille ballots in the past.
The
Braille ballot is interesting
;
Braille ballot paper templates were developed by the VEC and Vision Australia designed to enable a Braille user to cast a secret vote. The template took the form of a cardboard facsimile of the ballot paper embossed with Braille text that exactly reproduced the printed text.
The boxes next to the candidate's names were cut out to enable the voter to mark their choice on to the ballot paper. Braille users were provided with a Braille Instructions Sheet, and Key to Candidates.
The election official handed the voter the ballot papers clipped behind the templates, and the voters then marked the ballot paper with their choices using a pencil or stamp, and deposited them in the ballot box.
The ACT has also used EAV's or Electronically Assisted Voting which is basically a non-networked PC-like computer with technology add-ons for vision impaired voters. This printed out a ballot which the voter then put in the ballot box.
Some of the simple innovative ways that the VEC and ACT have come up with to fully involve blind and vision impaired voters in the secret ballot process show a good commitment to legitimate democratic outcomes.
This is a good thing.
cam
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I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
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