A biometric and authentication specialist believes it is too late for the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to put e-voting into practice for next year’s elections.
HumanIPO reported earlier today that the IEC would hold further discussions regarding the possibility of using e-voting and counting technologies.
Speaking to HumanIPO, Stan Khan, managing director (MD) of South African Muvoni Biometric & Smartcard Solutions (MBSS), said: “I think it will come, but I think it is probably too late now for 2014. We are hopeful for the elections after though.”
Khan said if the IEC wanted to implement ballot counting then they would probably have to look abroad for a solution because there are “only three or four” companies with the right technology.
MBSS are currently working with one of those companies, Dominion Voting in the United States, which implements technology in state-wide elections.
HumanIPO reported earlier today MBSS was in the running for the Swaziland 2013 General Elections tender to implement biometric voting and Khan said they had opened a dialogue with the government in South Africa.
Khan added: “We have tried to talk to the government about e-voting and ballot counting in South Africa, which speeds up the whole process, but also reduces the chance of cheating.
“The real problems [with cheating] tends to start when the voting stops and the count starts. They should be embracing this technology. I think we are ready to go to the next step.”
