Telephone voting

If you are blind or visually impaired you may be eligible to vote by telephone.

Voting by telephone in the ACT is completely secret and independent. The entire voting process is electronic.

Telephone voting isn't the only way we support you to vote if you are blind or visually impaired.

Read information for people with a disability.

Eligibility

You can vote by telephone if your visual impairment makes it difficult to vote in private without assistance.

Register for telephone voting

The first step in telephone voting is registering with Elections ACT.

When to register

The registration phoneline opening hours:

• Tuesday 8 October - Saturday 12 October 2024: 9am - 5pm
• Closed Sunday 13 October
• Monday 14 October - Thursday 17 October 2024: 9am - 5pm
• Friday 18 October 2024: 9am - 8pm
• Saturday 19 October 2024: 7am - 4pm

Calling the phoneline

1. Call the phone number 1800 875 118
2. The system will prompt you to select an option. Press one (1) to register for telephone voting. The system will transfer you to a member of the Elections ACT team.
3. The officer will ask for your full name and enrolled address. They may ask for your date of birth so they can match you to the name on the electoral roll.
4. The officer will ask you to provide a 5-digit PIN. Choose a number that is easy to remember. If you forget your PIN, you can't get a new one. You'll need to apply for a postal vote or attend an early voting centre instead.
5. The officer will ask you for either a mobile number, an email address or both. They will send a unique 7-digit voting token number. You will need this number as well as your PIN when you vote by telephone.
6. The officer will double-check your PIN and your contact details to make sure everything is correct. This finalises the registration process.

Receiving your voting token number

Once you're off the phone you'll receive an SMS or email (or both).

The message will contain your unique 7-digit voting token number.

Don't delete this information - you need it to vote.

Wait for the digital token to activate

It can take up to an hour for the 7-digit voting token to activate.

This is because the 5-digit PIN you provided takes time to register in the telephone voting server.

Vote by telephone

Once you've registered and you've allowed enough time for the digital token to activate, you can vote by telephone.

When to vote

The voting phoneline 1800 875 118:

• opens 9am on Tuesday 8 October 2024
• closes 6pm on Saturday 19 October 2024.

While open its operating hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Calling the phoneline

1. Call 1800 875 118
2. The system will prompt you to select an option.

Select option 1 to register

If you haven't already registered, select option one (1). You can't proceed if you haven't registered.

Select option 2 for instructions

Press '2' to hear how each button on your telephone keypad works when you vote.

Audio will play telling you the following:

• Press zero (0) at any time to listen to what each key does
• Press one (1) to clear all preferences and start again
• Press 2 to move up between candidates within a party or group
• Press 3 to start voting
• Press 4 to move to the previous party or group
• Press 5 to make a candidate selection
• Press 6 to move to the next party or group
• Press 8 to move down between candidates within a party or group
• Press star (*) to undo your most recent candidate selection
• Press hash (#) to finish and move to the next voting step

At the end of the audio message, it will replay the main menu.

Select option 3 to vote

Press '3' to vote using telephone voting.

1. The system will ask you to enter your 5-digit PIN. This is the PIN you provided to the officer when you registered.
2. The system will then ask you to enter your 7-digit voting token. This was sent to you via SMS or email when you registered.
3. The system will take you to your telephone-based ballot paper and present audio instructions.
4. Navigate the ballot paper and enter your preferences using your telephone keypad. The system's audio will indicate your position on the ballot paper and will state the preference numbers as you select them.
5. Once you have finished providing your preferences, press #(hash) to move to the next step.
6. After pressing hash, the system will read your choices back to you in the order of your selections. You can return to the ballot paper to make changes by pressing * (star).
7. If you're satisfied with your choices, you can confirm your vote by re-entering your 5-digit PIN. Entering your PIN at this stage is the digital equivalent of putting a paper ballot into the ballot box. The voting process is now complete.

You will not be able to change your vote or cast a new vote once you have completed the voting process.

The system marks your PIN and voting token as used and they can't be used to vote again.

Forgotten PIN numbers

Make sure you choose a 5-digit PIN that's easy to remember.

For security reasons the telephone voting system doesn't keep a record of your PIN.

We can't remind you of your PIN or give you a new one.

If you forget your PIN, you can't get a new one and you'll need to attend an early voting centre or apply for a postal vote instead.

Read about:

• postal voting
• early voting centres

Security

The telephone voting system has controls and processes which secure the secrecy and integrity of the voting process.

Physical security

The system's 2 servers are located in secure facilities. A certified firewall protects the system, and a series of access controls protect the front-end of the administration system.

Voter authentication and anonymity

The telephone voting system involves a registration process which:

• matches your name against the electoral roll
• requires a personal identifier credential and an access credential.

The system authenticates you as a telephone voter against these credentials. It then collects your voting preferences using your telephone keypad entries.

The registration system deletes your PIN after it's exported to the telephone voting system. There is no way of identifying you via your vote.

Protection against cyber attacks

The telephone voting system is not connected to the internet.

Telephone vote data is stored in a controlled and isolated environment. Communications between different components of the telephone voting system are encrypted using HTTPS (via TLS1.2).

Accurate vote interpretation

Once you have entered your voting preferences, your vote selections are played back to you. This allows you to check and confirm that your encrypted preference information was received by the voting server correctly.