Britain could hold its first electronic general election by the end of the decade, according to the Electoral Commission.
But it warned the Government needed to set out a clearer vision of the future of voting if it was to meet its target of an e-enabled election sometime after 2006.
It said it would be premature to claim it was on track for this goal.
A target date should be set for the first full-scale poll using new technology and a national electronic register of voters should be set up within the next few years.
Pilots of voting by internet, mobile phone, text messaging and electronic polling booths in 30 local government elections took place in May without significant technical hitches or fraud.
But only all-postal voting had any impact on increasing voter turnout, a key aim of ministers concerned at the collapse in voting levels to a record low of 59 per cent in last year's General Election.
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