"It DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU VOTE FOR, the government ALWAYS gets in"

Yep! - Now you are starting to understand the Aussie mentality! :-)


"Oz uses Diebold now if I am not mistaken."

Absolutely mistaken for voting - but many bank ATMs ARE Diebold...

We use printed pieces of paper (separate papers for Lower & Upper Houses) and mark numbers in the boxes - these are ALL hand counted - usually sufficent are counted in about 4-5 hours (BY HAND!!!) to decide the outcome on the night of voting! (Who NEEDS machines - or trusts them?!) - we have (optional in some cases!) Preference Voting - in the Senate it is a form of Optional Preferential Proportional representation - Quotas allocated based on percentages of the vote gained and then passed on to other party members. It's simpler to look it up than ramble on here for ages... :-)

WE LIKE IT THOUGH!

Apart from the "Donkey Vote" - where the paper is numbered from top to bottom - it mostly works - due to the preferences - and the positions on the paper are decided by a random draw - We Aussies LOVE our Gambling! :-)