UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin said the Malaysian government should urgently modernise its electoral system by embracing electronic processes or online voting (e-voting).
Mohd Sharkar said Putrajaya should follow in the footsteps of Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, India, Ireland, Paraguay, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and the United States in embracing the e-voting method.
“When we talk about online systems, I believe most people are already accustomed to doing everything online including paying utility bills, renewing car insurance, paying summons, shopping and even doing banking,” the former Lanchang assemblyman was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.
“Therefore, online voting isn’t as impossible as one would have thought. If all this while we believe in internet banking security, why shouldn’t we also have a secure system to cast our votes during elections?”
Elaborating, Mohd Sharkar said it is not a major obstacle for the country to implement the e-voting process through the existence of various types of modern technology these days including household internet access which he said has increased to 96% in 2022 according to a study conducted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Commenting further, Mohd Sharkar said, it is not a big obstacle for the country to implement the e-voting process through the existence of various types of modern technology today, including household internet access which will increase to 96 percent in 2022 through a study by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The Pahang State Assembly Speaker stressed that e-voting would make the voting process more flexible, particularly during the 16th General Election (GE16).
“Voters can vote from anywhere as the current voting system is costly and takes up extra effort and time.
“There is no longer a requirement to leave the house to vote. Even if there is a flood, voting can still take place. The cost of returning to the village to vote will also be removed,” the former Pahang exco said.
He pointed out that the country cannot continue to carry out the voting process in the traditional manner which involves voters travelling to voting stations and waiting in long lines in order to fulfil their responsibilities to the country.
“Although there is great dispute over the effectiveness of the e-voting process, it has the potential to provide many benefits to the country and its citizens such as reducing the number of errors or damage to ballot papers, among other things, and increasing the number of voters because it can be done anywhere,” he said.
As such, he explained, Putrajaya and the Election Commission (EC) have to conduct an extensive study of this idea in order for the e-voting method to be implemented in the next general election.
Malaysia has been using indelible ink, often known as electoral ink, to prevent multiple voting since the 14th general election (GE14) in 2013. – July 6, 2023
Main pic credit: Astro Awani
