Professor Errol Miller, Chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee (second from right) explains how machines will be used to trigger a ballot during an election. He was speaking during yesterday's press briefing at the EAC's Old Hope Road headquarters. From right are EAC members Maxine Henry-Wilson, Dorothy Pine-McLarty and Ryan Peralto. - Junior Dowie
Jamaicans could be casting their ballots electronically by the time general elections are called, if the Cabinet grants its approval and the necessary funds are realised.
Elections are constitutionally due by the first quarter of 2003, but the decision to vote by machine also hinges on a pilot project to be conducted by United States-based Cogent Systems Limited.
The company was selected by the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) to supply the 40 machines that will be used in the pilot at a cost of US$482,000 (J$22.65m). EAC Chairman Professor Errol Miller, made the announcement yesterday at a press briefing at the EAC's Old Hope Road Headquarters.
He said that at the end of the project which is scheduled to last six months, the EAC along with the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), may proceed to spend US$16.1 million (J$756.7m) the overall cost of the project. At that time, up to 4,000 machines would be purchased.
A breakdown of the figure shows that US$2.2 million would be spent on software, management and training and US$13.9 million for the hardware. Professor Miller pointed out that the final cost for the hardware could be reduced hence the decision by the EAC to develop its own prototype. He also said the EAC had the right to back out of the agreement even if the pilot was successful.
He however expects that the funds will be made available for the pilot. "We have had discussions with both the Minister (Dr. Peter Phillips) and the Prime Minister and we got no indication that there would be any roadblocks in the way of putting up the pilot," he said.
Forty machines will be produced for the pilot which will get under way as soon as a Cabinet submission is prepared and submitted, and the contractual arrangement entered into with Cogent," Professor Miller said.
The Gleaner first reported in March of this year that the EAC was examining the feasibility of importing machines capable of triggering a ballot by matching fingerprints. It was also reported then that the machines were likely to be tested in a by-election, a point raised by Professor Miller yesterday.
He explained that several options would be looked at during the pilot period before a final decision is taken. The option will then be to go islandwide with the system; confine it to designated areas; or run the election manually, and where discrepancies occur, use the machines in a subsequent election.
With roughly 6,300 polling stations in 2,600 polling locations across the island, more than 3,000 persons would have to be trained to operate the machines.
If electronic voting becomes a reality, it will represent the final phase in the electoral reform process which began with creating what the EOJ now describes as the cleanest voters' list in the country's history.
The other short-listed company was SAGEM from France, which along with Cogent and TRW Inc., another US-based firm, conducted a demonstration of their equipment in February at the Jamaica Conference Centre.
There were several glitches then but reports reaching The Gleaner are that these have since been rectified.
