Ref. 28706-49POLLING begins today American-style in the two Swindon council by-elections.

For the first time in the UK voting will be over two days as the Central and Western wards become guinea pigs in the Government's latest experiment to increase turn-outs.

Today, the electorate of the two wards will have the chance to cast their votes by touch-screen at the polling stations.

Council staff will also be visiting sheltered accommodation in the wards to give residents the chance to vote by new technology in their own homes.

Then on Thursday it will be voting the old-fashioned way with ballot-papers at the same polling stations as today.

This is the first real test of political opinion in the borough since the council elections last May that saw the Conservatives become the largest single group and take control of the administration, although one short of an overall majority.

The Tories are pushing for outright control, while the other parties are fighting to keep the council 'hung'.

All votes, whether cast on paper or computer, will be counted by a machine similar to the one that caused chaos in the last US presidential election.

However, the machine that will be used tomorrow night for the count in the Civic Office comes from a new generation of equipment developed after the Florida fiasco.