Korea mandates e-voting by 2005

The new voting system will begin on a trial basis from next year, when the government allows local citizens to vote on its major policies, according to the Korea Herald.

Also, up to 85 percent of government services will be available via the Internet, an increase from the current 15 percent. A one-stop service will be available on the Web to help with online company registration.

A national distribution information network will be created by the government to keep track of imports and exports, customs, and rail and land transport by 2007. Also, the government will digitise all of its paperwork by 2005 and create a database of major public documents by 2006, to increase efficiency and reduce costs, said the report.

Other parts of Asia have also launched pilot projects in e-voting, including Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In June last year, residents of Niimi, about 500 kilometres (310 miles) southwest of Tokyo, became the first city in Japan to use e-voting. More than 15,000 people registered their choices by pressing their fingers on the screens of voting machines, according to a report by news agency the Associated Press.

The majority of Australians also supports the introduction of some form of electronic voting, a study of 1,000 voters by Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) revealed. People most likely to support e-voting lie in the 25 to 34 age group, have an income in excess of A$80,000 (£33,086) with Internet access at home and familiarity with online payment solutions.

India will also discard paper ballots in place of e-voting by September 2004. It will be the first time a Lok Sabha, or central parliament election, will be held in the country since 1952. The Election Commission plans to increase the number of electronic voting machines from 600,000 to 800,000 by March 2004, according to the Economic Times.