There three main types of computerized voting systems in current use--punch card, mark-sense, and direct recording electronic machines (Source: http://aceproject.org/main/english/em/emf02.htm )
Punch Card
Punch card voting systems require voters to mark their ballots by punching holes in paper cards. The punch cards can be fed into computerised counting machines either at the local precincts or at centralised tallying facilities. Punch card voting systems have been in use since the mid 1960s.
There are two types of punch cards in common use: 'votomatic' cards and 'datavote' cards. Both are rectangular cards that are generally oriented with the long edges on the sides and the short edges on the top and bottom. Each card is generally printed with an easily removable numbered stub at the top. The number allows precinct officials to ensure that each voter votes the ballot actually issued to him or her. The stub is usually removed before the ballot is submitted to the ballot box.
Mark-Sense
Mark-sense ballots are paper ballots printed with circles, ovals, squares, or rectangles that voters fill in with a pen or pencil to mark their votes. Optical scanning technology is generally used to detect the marks on each ballot. Some mark-sense systems require ballots to be marked using soft lead pencils, while others may be marked with almost any writing instrument (although most require that red ink not be used). Similar systems are widely used for standardised college entrance exams.
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Machines
Direct recording electronic (DRE) machines are computer terminals that allow voters to enter their votes by pressing buttons or touching images on a computer screen. The original DRE machines were simply electronic implementations of the traditional mechanical lever machines. More recent DRE models look more like automated teller machines or personal computers and have the ability to display photographs as well as text.
DRE machines require a larger up-front investment in equipment than do punch card and mark-sense systems. Enough machines must be purchased so that voters need not wait in line for extended periods of time in order to vote. In addition, DRE machines must be securely transported to polling sites and stored between elections.
Some recent tests using electronic voting
Belgium has been using electronic voting since 1991, when it first embarked upon this in the Canton Verlaine. This scheme has gradually expanded to include more Cantons. In the local elections of 2000, eligible voters in all Cantons could vote electronically if they so desired.
When entering the polling station voters are handed a smartcard, which she enters into the voting machine's card-reader. The voter then makes her choice by pressing buttons on a computer screen, and once the selection is made the voter will see how she has voted on the screen, before validating her choice. The vote is stored electronically in the vote machine, as well as on the smartcard. The latter is for security reasons should the voting machine break down.
In Spain, the electorate in one province has experienced electronic voting to the Provincial Assembly, although in this case it was only a test. Because after voters had casted their ballots the traditional way, they were given the opportunity to record their vote using electronic equipment too, although it was not compulsory. Here the voter used a pencil connected to a computer. The preference of the voter was stored on the smartcard, which subsequently was dropped in the ballot box.
In 1999, 55,000 Japanese voters of Kawaguchi could vote electronically. Election administrators could also count the votes electronically. Just like in the Spanish case, these elections were however only a parallel operation and had no impact on the outcome of the elections. Here the polling stations were issued with computers, smartcards, and card-readers. The computers in each polling station were connected via an intranet, so that the tallying of the ballots could be done centrally. All the voters had to do was to press images on the screen until the right party and candidate appeared and make her selection. The smartcards were then deposited in the ballot box.
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