The ACT Electoral Commission is seeking proposals for using technology to improve the speed and accuracy of the next ACT Legislative Assembly election count.

After the February 1998 Legislative Assembly election, the Electoral Commission undertook to investigate the possibility of introducing electronic voting and/or vote counting for the October 2001 election, the acting ACT Electoral Commissioner, Phil Green, said today.

The Electoral Commission will publish an advertisement for a Request For Proposal (RFP) in this Saturday's (2 October 1999) Canberra Times and The Weekend Australian.

The RFP will ask interested companies to propose a solution using technology to increase the speed and accuracy of the ACT's voting and counting processes.

Should any feasible solutions be proposed, the Electoral Commission will provide a report to the Legislative Assembly in the new year canvassing the options available.

"It is too early to say whether we will be able to vote electronically at the next ACT election", Mr Green said. "There are many issues to address, including security, reliability and preserving the secrecy of the ballot. However, I am hopeful that the ACT should be able to use technology to increase the speed and accuracy of the count in October 2001."

Interested companies will have until 21 October 1999 to submit an RFP to the Commission.