EC gets computerised system

Feb 07, 2011

WITH ten days to the February poll, the Electoral Commission (EC) has unveiled a computerised results tally system that should render rigging impossible.

By Henry Mukasa

WITH ten days to the February poll, the Electoral Commission (EC) has unveiled a computerised results tally system that should render rigging impossible.

The system is a set of interlinked computers set up at district level but sharing a server that will be mounted at Namboole stadium, the national tally centre for the February poll.

Once returning officers at district levels enter the data, it will be transmitted to Namboole Stadium where it will be projected to giant screens that will be observed by candidates’ agents, observers and the media.

The system dubbed, ‘Elections Results Tallying, Transmission and Dissemination System (ERTDS) is an improvement to what the EC has had and is funded by the Deepening Democracy Programme (DDP), a consortium of donors agencies.

“We are supposed to declare election results within 48-hours. We wanted to get a system that was faster, more transparent and secure,” Joseph Biribonwa, the deputy EC chairman said.

Biribonwa was speaking yesterday at a demonstration function of the system for representatives of political parties and stake-holders at Hotel Africana.

The computers manned by the Returning Officers will have a printer, scanner and modem and is designed to reject entries of results that are more than the registered voters.

About results being tampered with in transit, Leonard Mulekwah, the EC director for operations said the law would take its course.

“Tallying should be done at district level and tamper proof envelopes containing declaration forms can only be opened by the returning officer,” Mulekwah said.

“We are asking agents of political parties to ensure that the tamper proof envelopes are sealed and dispatched at polling stations,” he added that agents would remain with their copies of the declaration forms.


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