Thanks to government funding, the ballot boxes will be replaced by electronic voting machines in one-third of the polling stations of the country for the upcoming Majlis and Assembly of Experts elections, the head of the Election Headquarters said.
Speaking in a press conference on Sunday, Mohammad Hossein Moqimi said the process of election has 25 procedures, of which 23 procedures were carried out electronically in the previous elections, with the remaining voting and counting procedures being implemented through paperwork, IRNA reported. The parliamentary election for the 10th Islamic Consultative Assembly, or the Majlis, will be held on February 26, 2016, coinciding with the election of the Assembly of Experts.
Moqimi referred to the pilot implementation of e-voting in 14 constituencies by using 2,500 electronic voting machines in the ninth parliamentary election in 2012 and said the experience was valuable.
“Flaws in the election law necessitated the preparation of a modified version, consequently the Majlis has prepared and approved the bill to change the law and remove obstacles,” he said, hoping that the legislation will be finally approved by the Guardians Council.
“Electronic election requires both computer hardware and software. On the hardware, the headquarters has reached a consensus with the Guardians Council and the Interior Minister.”
Commenting on the software, he said it is under development by Iranian engineers, under the close supervision of the experts of the Guardians Council and the Interior Ministry.
“We are going forward step by step, making sure that using this system, the Interior Ministry can implement the voting procedure and the Guardians Council is able to perform its monitoring task,” Moqimi explained.
E-voting helps minimize the possibility of irregularities, accelerates the process of counting ballots. Besides, through enhanced transparency, it reduces the election costs.
On the date of candidate’s registration for elections, Moqimi said the registration for the Assembly of Experts elections is on November 17 and for the Majlis is November 19.
