KUALA LUMPUR: Going digital to verify voters is a trend but the real issue lies in trust, says MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon (pic).
He said the Election Commission (EC) must build that trust through greater transparency and engagement with political parties as it considers wider use of digital systems to verify voters.
He said the verification process should also be transparent for representatives of contesting candidates to check on the spot.
“The verification cannot be carried out solely by the EC officer but must also be checked by the representatives,” he said, referring to the polling agents and counting agents.
Chong said MCA supported digitalisation but stressed that political parties must be properly briefed on how the system works.
“I’m all for digitalisation but until I know the details and trust the system, we will still monitor it,” he said when contacted.
Chong also said political parties should be informed before such systems are tested, although their consent was not necessarily required.
“You need to inform them. Don’t do it quietly,” he added.
Bersatu Youth chief Hilman Idham said the party supported the initiative but wanted the EC to disclose the pilot project’s findings and engage political parties, election observers and technical experts before wider implementation.
“There must be clear safeguards on cybersecurity, personal data protection and system reliability.
“The system should also be independently audited before nationwide implementation,” he said.
The Gombak Setia assemblyman said there must always be a manual fallback, so voters would not be prevented from voting due to system failures, connectivity problems or inability to read MyKad.
PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said any changes to the electoral system should involve wider consultation.
“What’s important is for the EC to hold consultations with all parties involved,” he said.
Transparency and preventing misuse or leakages that could affect voters were key concerns, he added.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan questioned the EC’s intention, saying the existing method of recording voter attendance was already transparent.
“At present, the number of voters who have attended is called out by the polling staff and marked by representatives of contesting parties,” he said.
He also called for electoral boundaries to be reviewed based on the size and development of each constituency.
Tenggara MP Manndzri Nasib said digitalisation should be supported despite possible shortcomings during the early stages.
He urged the EC to study similar systems used in other democracies and consider technology-enabled ballot papers such as QR codes or digital sensors to speed up vote counting.
