According to a press statement made available to Marapost Saturday and signed by chief elections officer, Willy Kalonga, the shelved electronic voter registration system would be used in the 2019 elections.
“Mec wishes to inform the general public that following the advice made available to it by various experts and stakeholders on the implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration System, it has shelved the plans of implementing the solution for the purposes of the 2014 Tripartite Elections.
“The Commission has taken into consideration the various concerns, risks and logistical challenges that are inherent in the implementation of the system and has resolved that the implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration System be used in the 2019 elections. Prior to that, the Commission will conduct comprehensive field tests and civic education programmes on the solution.
“Consequently, the Commission will, for the purposes of the 2014 Tripartite Elections, use the current paper-based solution of capturing voters in the field,” reads the statement in part.
The postponement of the implementation of the electronic system comes after the commission had already conducted tours to some countries where the system was used such as Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Tanzania and Namibia.
Earlier, unconfirmed reports indicated that prospective donors argued that given the short period of time to May 18 tripartite elections, an experiment with the new system in which the country has no expertise is waste of spending. The electronic system was expected to cost the commission about $2.7 million.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Yamikani Simutowe
Quelle/Source: The Maravi Post, 23.03.2013
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