First one is that our Electoral Commission is a Federal commission - it runs the whole process down to the polling booths. The process in every booth across the country is identical. Governing bodies simply do not run the voting.

Voting software has been experimented with, but the AEC is in the unique position of being genuinely interested in accurate results.

Also, the simple pencil-and-paper scheme is almost unbelievably efficient. Booths do their own counting and most results are known before midnight of the voting day or before dawn of the following morning. Instant run-off probably helps.

Wade.