Commission to flash election results on new website

BY SIM LEOI LEOI
PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission will set up a special website to telecast results of the next general election so that everyone including Malaysians living overseas, can keep track.

Its secretary Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the website would be linked by a dedicated line to Internet provider Jaring, which had promised an access speed of 100 megabyte per second.

“The election results will be even faster than those announced by the returning officers at the constituencies.

“This is because once the results have been faxed to our headquarters and then confirmed by the commission, we will flash the results immediately on the website.

“The returning officers may take time to announce the official results,” he told reporters after a technical briefing with media representatives at the commission here yesterday.

The website, he added, would be different from that currently operated by the commission at www.spr.gov.my.

“We will announce the website address later.

“We are confident that the system will be up and running by the time the Government declares a general election, even if it is in the first quarter of this year,” said Wan Ahmad.

The special website would contain, among others, information and photographs of the election candidates, the number of voters registered, the logos of the political parties contesting plus the overall results for the whole country on polling night.

“This is the first time the commission has established such a system. Previously, our results are only linked up to Bernama, which is the official media.

“Our election results will be broadcast in Malay. Bernama will provide an English translation of this on its own website,” he said.

“The commission decided to set up this new system as it felt it had the responsibility to ensure that the results were transmitted to all Malaysians.”

“And this means that Malaysians living overseas and foreigners can also monitor the election results on the website,” he said.

On security at the media centre on polling night, Wan Ahmad said reporters would be able to enter the centre only after they had been issued with a security pass.

“They should not encounter any problem if they are bona fide reporters,” he said.

The Star, Friday 16/11/2004