It has been asked many times through the years why we persist with such low-tech system. But there are several reasons it hasn't happened. First is that we have a federal commission that runs the elections in a way that doesn't happen in the US. The AEC is highly wary of such technology because it a) costs and b) has a very hard time beating the speed and reliability of our system: most electorates know their result the evening of the election. And there's another reason: compulsory voting means election campaigns spend a lot less money per capita than in the US. That makes it harder for voting machine companies to get in.

That said, there are electronic voting trials happening in this election; but they're intended for those who would have trouble with pencil-and-paper. The AEC has run trials before of voting machines and has been unimpressed.

Oh yes: [link|http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Australia.htm#Why do they supply pencils in polling booths and not pens? Doesn't using pencils allow votes to be tampered with|Why do they supply pencils in polling booths and not pens? Doesn't using pencils allow votes to be tampered with].

Okay, I'll shut up, now. :-)

Wade.