EC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission would first have to scrutinize the system before the implementation.
“Although the system was capable of detecting multiple voting and ensuring transparency, it needed to be scrutinised before being implemented because it would be very costly,” Abdul Aziz said in a statement.
He said, however, that the consideration of using biometrics in elections does not mean that the existing system is no longer relevant, safe or transparent. “Despite allegations of multiple voting cases, none of the claims resulted in an election petition or had been brought to court so far,” he added.
The EC had previously proposed the use of indelible ink during the previous but the proposal was scrapped due to security reasons.
“The proposal also contravenes Article 119 (1) of the Federal Constitution which guarantees every citizen’s constitutional right to vote in an election, and that right cannot be denied unless the registered voter is disqualified under the law,” he said.
The commission first said its plan to adopt a new biometric identification system for elections in 2009 which aims to prevent voting fraud.
Each voter will have their fingerprint or thumbprint scanned for identity verification using the computerised system before voting. The system would also block a verified voter from voting at other places.
Abdul Aziz said it was also studying other biometric system for voters who do not have any finger or thumb.
There are currently 11.82 million registered voters in the country.
General elections in Malaysia must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections. The previous general election was held in 2008.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Pia Rufino
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 06.04.2011
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