ELECTRONIC voting is coming to Bury as the council tries out a pioneering attempt to boost turnouts.

For the first time, some residents in the May 4 local elections will make their mark on a touch-key screen rather than putting a cross on a traditional ballot paper.

Bury has been chosen by the Government to pilot the scheme: other councils will experiment with different polling days and postal voting systems.

Voters in one ward, Besses in Whitefield, have been chosen to try out the project. Only 21.5 per cent of residents in the Labour stronghold voted in last year's council elections, the second lowest turnout in the borough. The Bury-wide showing was just 28 per cent, one of the lowest in recent memory. Mr Dennis Taylor, the council's chief executive, said: "We are delighted to test the experiment. Along with the other pilot schemes, it might rekindle public interest in taking part in the democratic process."

People in Besses will go to their polling station as normal with their polling card, where an official will explain how the system works.

Voters will be directed to a screen like a cashpoint machine where, in secret, they press the button for the candidate they want. They will be able to change their choice if they make a mistake.

The real savings are to the council: apart from spending less on ballot papers, boxes and people to count the votes, the result will come through almost immediately after the polls close.

Mr Taylor conceded that the system would not seem much different to the man on the street at the moment, but said this could be just the first taste of many things to come. It might ultimately lead to electronic voting from home, or at many machines placed around the borough.

"We're looking at the broader picture, to see how people react to a new method of voting."

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