KOTA KINABALU: Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad yesterday expressed confidence that the use of the biometric system could help ‘clean’ the electoral roll.
He said the EC is currently conducting a study on the system to determine its suitability for implementation during general elections, and it will only be used if the Commission is satisfied with the outcome.
On the feedback about the proposal to use the biometric system, Wira said, “That is why we are emphasising on the word ‘study’. We might conduct a mock election just to study the new system. If the result does not satisfy us, we will do the study again until we are satisfied to ensure that all loopholes are covered,” he told reporters after attending a meeting with the Sabah EC here yesterday.
He said once EC is satisfied with the result, they will be calling their clients, namely political parties and non-governmental organisations, to try out the system and answer their possible curiosities.
“The EC does not play politics. I believe that the implementation of the biometric system is the best solution to clean up the electoral roll. All data is linked to the National Registration Department, including our thumbprints. It is a good system because God created a biometric for each person. There is no one in the world having the same biometric as another person… so once your biometric is registered, the system will be able to detect and reject the imposter or fake person,” he said.
Wira advised all parties to be patient and to allow EC to carry out the study before they come up with assumptions.
“We are still studying the system, its technicality, applications and effectiveness; so please let us do our work first. There are a lot of things that people do not understand, so let us find out what the system is all about and we will explain to the relevant parties soon,” he said.
Wira said if the proposal is accepted, Malaysia would be the first country in the world to implement the biometric system in general elections.
“The biometric system is widely used in many agencies such as the NRD, the Customs, at the airport, and so on, but it has never been used for any general elections,” he said.
Wira however declined to comment on the call to use ink to mark voters who have cast their votes, as they believe the biometric system would be costly.
“I have commented on the matter so many times. How would they know that the use of the biometric system would be expensive… we may just need a briefcase to carry the equipment to the voting centres, we will see what happens then,” he said.