The idea of an electronic ballot box in elections is no longer part of a sci-fi future but a reality in many towns in the US. Now there's word that Microsoft's recently launched Surface tablet is being used in one US city as a test for collecting votes in Tuesday's election.
Geek Wire reports that a company called Democracy Live, which handles electronic balloting technology in a number of states in the US, will have the Surface tablet in place in one voting precinct in Charlottesville, Virginia. The tablet will have an app installed called LiveBallot that on Tuesday will let its users mark and then print out an election ballot for that particular precinct.
Democracy Live actually uses Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-based system to collect its ballot information. If this test of the Surface tablet is successful on Tuesday, the company plans to put in more of these tablets in other voting locations. However, the company will wait until the launch of the Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface before going all out with its electronic ballot plans.
This is yet another possible way that Microsoft's new hardware product could be highly successful beyond the scope of the current tablet market.
Source: Geek Wire | Image via Geek Wire
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