THE Election Commission (EC) has begun testing a digital voter attendance system aimed at improving election management efficiency, using the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election as a platform to assess the potential of technology-driven polling administration.
The Optical Character Recognition Voter Attendance (OCR-VA) system was piloted at Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) Dato Klana Petra Maamor in Ampangan, chosen for its diverse voter demographics that include different age groups and backgrounds.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the location was selected to allow the commission to evaluate how the system performs among various categories of voters.
Seven polling streams at the school were involved in the pilot project.
“This system is the beginning of our move towards using digital technology to record voter attendance.
“We want to observe different voter profiles, including senior citizens, younger voters and others.
“So we believe this school is suitable in terms of its size to serve as the pilot project,” he told reporters after inspecting the voting process at the polling centre today.
Ramlan said the pilot project aims to determine whether MyKad identification cards can be used to record voter attendance more effectively compared with the current manual approach.
“This system is not involved in any aspect of the election process. It is merely a pilot project that we believe could be a positive step for the future.
“Through OCR-VA, we are able to receive real-time information on voter turnout, gender and age groups,” he said.
The EC chairman stressed that OCR-VA has not been approved for official implementation, as the commission will first study the findings from the trial and gather feedback from relevant stakeholders.
“Based on today's findings, we will obtain more detailed information.
“After this, we will seek views from all stakeholders. We will not implement it without first obtaining feedback from the relevant parties,” he said.
The EC previously announced that the OCR-VA pilot project would be conducted during the Negeri Sembilan election as part of wider efforts to enhance the management and efficiency of Malaysia’s electoral process.
EC secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said the initiative was designed to support improvements in election administration through greater adoption of digital technology, while ensuring future electoral processes remain transparent, efficient and responsive. - August 1, 2026
