Parliament

New VoterCard features for next General Election

June 7, 2021 12:50 pm

VoterCard for the next General Election will have special features to counter any form of voting fraud.

This comes after the passing of the Act to Amend the Electoral Act 2021, which deals with the registration of voters.

The VoterCard assigned to a person on the registration of the person as a voter will contain the full name, photograph, date of birth, residential address, voter number, polling venue and any other information as required by the Supervisor.

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The Supervisor must ensure that there are adequate security features incorporated into the design and printing of a VoterCard.

This means the Supervisor may upgrade the security features incorporated into the design and printing of a VoterCard.

The Supervisor may require a voter to have his or her voter card replaced following an upgrade of the security features incorporated into the design and printing of a VoterCard.

The bill also brings into place that at the time of registration, the applicant must select a polling venue closest to their residence and an alternative polling venue.

If the applicant is unable to select a polling venue closest to their residence and an alternative polling venue, the Supervisor may assign a polling venue closest to the applicant’s residence and an alternative polling venue.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, says should anyone be removed from the National Register of Voters, there are ways to do this.

“If the Supervisor of Elections is going to remove someone’s name from the National Register of Voters, it gives a step by step description as to how he should do it or she should do it, whoever is the Supervisor of Elections. They have to send notice to the person’s last known address, they have to give them a particular amount of time. And then if the person wants to object they can object, they can appeal to the Electoral Commission and the Electoral Commission can then review the decision of the Registrars, which is the Supervisor of Elections in this particular case.”

SODELPA Leader, Viliame Gavoka says the VoterCards should not be changed for the next election as the time is short.

“So on that note Mr Speaker, I would plead with the Government, with the Electoral Commission to re-look at the registration. There is no reason why you cannot use this again in 2022. People will know that they voted at a particular point in 2018 and they can always go back there.”

Debate continues in Parliament.