GEORGE TOWN: For the first time, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will be using an electronic voting system called the epilih for the Student Representatives Council 2016/2017.
Aimed at transparency, the voting system is said to be more efficient and effective. Student Affairs and Development deputy vice chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Adnan Hussein said the system uses the student’s registry to determine their eligibility to vote.
He said it was connected to USM’s Local Area Network which was easily searchable using student's MyKad numbers.
“After being verified by the e-voter system, students will be then allowed to vote using the new system, which saves times and reduces the error margin and spoilt votes during the voter process,” said Adnan in a statement today.
Some 14,315 registered USM students from three campuses in Gelugor, Nibong Tebal and Kubang Kerian will come out to vote at 9am tomorrow. There will be a total of six designated voting areas in all three campuses.
At the main campus, 27 candidates will contest in six public constituencies and 23 faculty constituencies.
“We are very pleased at how the system works. We expect to get results of the elections by 6pm tomorrow at the Dewan Utama Pelajar. During the last election, the results were only out late at night,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zulham Hamdam, chief information officer at the Centre for Knowledge, Communication and Technology said the system was developed in-house.
He said it took 50 of his staff to come up with the system which replaces the manual system called the ‘e-kira’.
“The system is developed with priority in transparency and high safety features. In case of any problems, the system has been tested many times to avoid any possible problems before being put to use,” he added.