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TORONTO — For the first time in a provincial election in Ontario, voters will use electronic voting machines when they head to the polls on June 7.

The voters’ paper lists will also be a thing of past in most ridings, replaced by an electronic version called e-Poll Book.

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Elections Ontario says the new technology should help speed up both the voting and ballot-counting process.

When voters show up at a polling station, a machine will scan their notice of registration card, a process similar to scanning food at a grocery store.

Then the voters will receive their ballot from an official, fill it out and hand it back to the official who will put it through the tabulating machine.

A spokeswoman for Elections Ontario says the new technology was tested at two byelections in 2016, and was also used in a variety of municipal elections.

“We’re hoping this will be much more efficient for the voter,” said Cara Des Granges. “Getting results should be faster and the technology is proven to be more reliable than tabulating votes by hand.”