Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. (Credit: NNA)
A new electronic technique for counting votes will be used on Sunday, May 15, following the parliamentary elections that will take place across Lebanon, according to yesterday’s announcement by Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi during a press conference at the ministry.
Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, an official at the Interior Ministry said that this technique consists of a fast electronic connection through fiber optics between the electoral commissions sitting in the districts of each constituency and the Interior Ministry.
“This is an internal network [intranet] set up for the benefit of the ministry and the commissions responsible for verifying the proper conduct of the legislative vote. This network allows an instant delivery of results. Its access is secure and safe from any online intrusion,” the ministry official told L’Orient-Le Jour.
“After the polls close at 7 p.m. on Sunday, the reports of the results recorded in the polling stations of the 15 constituencies will be sent to the primary electoral commissions sitting in those constituencies,” he explained.
“These results represent the number of votes obtained by each list as well as the number of preferential votes for each candidate. The magistrates who preside over the electoral commissions will then insert the official reports into the electronic system,” the source added.
“At the same time, thanks to the new technology, the Interior Ministry will be informed of the number and origin of the reports. This way, it can know which polling stations have already sent their results and which results are missing,” he explained.
The source went on to say, “At this stage, the Interior Ministry is not informed of the content of the reports. It will when the magistrates presiding over the higher electoral commissions have verified that the electronic results and their printed versions match the reports established by the polling station clerks. This procedure is necessary because errors can occur if the operator in charge of entering the results makes a mistake in entering the numbers.”
The source explained that once the verifications are done, the results are displayed simultaneously on a large screen installed for this purpose on the ministry’s premises.
“During the press conference, Bassam Mawlawi made a promise to all civil servants, judges and security agents who will be mobilized on the election day on Sunday that they will be paid in ‘cash’ within a week,” the official said.
Some of them have been reluctant to confirm their presence on election day, mainly for financial considerations, in a country in full economic crisis.