By Hoda Badry
The General Assembly of the Parliament tested the electronic voting process in the parliament in the presence of Judge Magdy El-Agaty, Minister of Communication Yasser Al-Qadi, and a number of parliament speakers, and members of the parliament.
The trial revealed that the electronic voting system is incomplete, and Judge Magdy El-Agaty objected to the presence of a technician sitting in the third floor of the main hall to operate the microphone in front of every member wishing to speak. In previous parliaments, a technician used to operate the microphone based on instructions from the parliament speaker.
Al-Qadi further expressed agreement with El-Agaty, noting that the technician turned off the microphone before he could finish giving his speech. He also said the voting numbers on the screen should be displayed in Arabic, not English. He objected to the voting process because it takes a long time although pushing buttons for results should not take that long.
The new electronic system starts with the smart cards handed to all MPs to prove their presence at sessions and committees. Al-Qadi said those cards will have their owners’ fingerprints on them and can be used to ask permission for speaking, voting, and providing the exact number of present MPs.
El-Agaty said electronic voting will organise work inside the house of parliament, thanking the Ministry of Communications and implementing companies for it.
Saad Rushdie, one of the supervisors of the electronic voting system project, said the audio system has been developed into a modern digital system, taking into account not to change the character of the parliament hall.
