The NSW Electoral Commission has been reconsidering its position since the courts found it had unlawfully discriminated against someone who was blind by failing to provide a Braille ballot paper.
The courts found that the law intended that a person record their vote without anyone else knowing what it is, implicitly demanding that the process be a private one.
An expert witness said that “the right to vote in secret is now such a well-established, deep-rooted principle that many view absolute secrecy of the ballot as a necessary ingredient to maintaining democratic integrity ... voting with assistance at the polling station means that voters are denied the rights and protections associated with the secret ballot”.
The NSW Electoral Commission made voting more accessible for those with vision impairment by providing Braille ballot papers for the state elections, but technology has moved on since then.
Electronic voting has now been employed on a trial basis in the ACT with success. Electronic voting benefits people who are vision impaired, as well as those who are unable to cast a vote due to other sorts of physical disability.
By reading instructions to voters electronically, electronic voting also assists those who cannot effectively follow written instructions in completing a ballot paper due to intellectual or learning disability, or even those with limited English.
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