RCCI set for electronic voting

RIYADH: Secretary-General of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Abdul Rahman Al-Athel said yesterday that the electronic voting system will be applied to the 16th session elections for the Board of Directors, commencing next Saturday.
Al-Athel pointed out that the Riyadh Chamber used electronic voting in the previous two elections but not in a comprehensive way, expressing Riyadh Chamber’s readiness to cooperate with all chambers in the Kingdom and support them in applying electronic voting system in their elections. “The Riyadh Chamber supported a number of societies and other sectors and facilitated the system through providing electronic equipment and human resources,” he said.
The voting process goes through three stages, according to the head of the team preparing for the elections, Shihab Al-Suailem. They are registering and authenticating information and data and handing out the voting cards; activating the cards within a time slot after which they are not valid; and finally voting for candidates through sliding the cards through the machines where the candidate’s info, picture and serial number appear.
Al-Suailem pointed out that more than 150 young men and women are in the human resource team to help aid in the voting process, the organization and the reception of voters.
At Riyadh International Exhibition Center, 30 voting rooms are equipped with 100 computers, 30 touchscreens and 70 machines connected to the electronic circle of Riyadh Chamber and the Ministry of Labor’s commercial registry system to provide information and examine the data of voters when handing them the magmatic cards.
The voting lists include 57,000 members of the chamber who are illegible for voting. Al-Suailem called on them to exercise their right to choose suitable candidates.
Deputy Minister of Labor for Internal Trades, Abdullah Al-Aqeel paid a visit to the chamber to review the preparations and arrangements for the elections. He commended the chamber's efforts in exerting and calling for other chambers in the Kingdom to follow in the footsteps of the Riyadh Chamber and benefit from its experience.