Some countries have mail systems that allow users to print address barcodes on mail, so that postal authorities can process the mail without having to print barcodes in their mail-rooms, thereby creating a discount for the user. Electoral authorities are also making use of barcodes on mail. As barcodes can identify both the name and address of the voter, they can be used by electoral authorities to process the mail when it is returned. This is particularly useful for postal ballots to automate the recording of voter names. These barcodes can also be used where addressed mail is returned 'not known at this address' in order to capture those details for electoral roll update purposes.
OMR technology is very useful for and efficient at gathering relatively simple, pre-determined data.
However, it is not very good at gathering complex, variable data, such as large amounts of text. OCR and ICR systems are more suited to this purpose. Scanning Systems OCR scanning systems take scanned images and use computer software to recognise the shapes of printed or handwritten characters such as numbers and letters, and store them as computer-readable data. OCR is typically used to convert printed text into computer-readable text. This capability has many potential applications in the electoral field.