Miller THE ELECTORAL Advisory Committee (EAC) will be seeking the permission of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to conduct local government by-elections using electronic equipment.
The Prime Minister has responsibility for calling elections.
EAC chairman Professor Errol Miller said he was hopeful the committee would get the chance to test the equipment in an actual election before the end of the year. The 40 machines being ordered by the EAC are capable of triggering a ballot by matching fingerprints. He told reporters attending yesterday's press briefing at the EAC's Old Hope Road headquarters that the machines could arrive in the island in another two months.
His announcement confirms a March 26 Gleaner report which noted that the EAC was moving to have the machines in place in time for use in a parish council by-election.
The decision to purchase the machines from French company SAGEM and the United States-based Cogent Systems Ltd was reached after the EAC examined the reports of the five independent evaluators who observed a demonstration by the companies in February, Professor Miller said. Another US company TRW Inc., was also involved in the demonstration held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.
The cost of the machines will not be determined for at least another week as the selected companies have been asked to make them to the specification of the EAC. Professor Miller said the committee was "confident the technology exists to do the job". This, he said, came after receiving feedback from the demonstration, the general public and the independent evaluators. "We are therefore in the process of refining the specification for the equipment," he said. The process should be completed by next week.
Simulation exercises will be conducted in the eight regions and a pool of persons capable of training others to use the equipment will be created. A public education campaign to be conducted will be integral to building confidence among the electorate. The number of polling stations are likely to be reduced as one machine will be able to accommodate three stations.
With the cost likely to run into millions of dollars, the EAC is already exploring other uses to which the equipment can be put when not being used in elections. Areas being explored are law enforcement, the education and social security systems.
"When we think that we have reached a certain level we will then move to do a pilot with an actual election," the EAC chairman said. The next step will be a local government election, hopefully before the end of the year.
Apart from the necessary tests to determine the suitability of the equipment, Professor Miller pointed to the need to amend the Representation of the People Act to allow for the use of the machinery. The EAC will also push for amendments which seek to strengthen the authority of the electoral court and the constituted authority; allow election day workers to vote at the same time as the security forces; and to create a pool of presiding officers and poll clerks to be deployed as needed on election day. They will be subjected to an integrity test.
The move to buy electronic voting equipment constitutes phase two of the electoral reform process, the first phase being the enumeration exercise which has reportedly resulted in the most accurate voter's list produced locally.
