The Elections and Boundaries Commission has decided to not move forward with its plans to roll out an electronic data collection pilot project in the Scarborough/Mt. Grace and Mt. St. George/Goodwood districts during Monday’s Tobago House of Assembly elections.
This decision comes following mock voting demonstration sessions including a data entry clerk, the Commission undertook on Saturday for the media and political parties to witness.
In a statement, EBC said on Saturday it met with representatives of the media and political parties contesting the election and subsequently agreed that it will not move forward with its pilot project for parallel data collection at polling stations in the specified electoral districts of Scarborough/Mt. Grace and Mt. St. George/Goodwood on Election Day, Monday 6th December.
The release added, the Commission listened to all relevant parties and decided to defer for future elections after there is an opportunity for further consultation.
Although the Commission stressed the usual manual process will continue in tandem with the use of technology, it said the Progressive Democratic Patriots rejected the initiative and declined the EBC’s invitation.
The EBC said with Local Government Elections set for 2022 it will take the opportunity to meet with all stakeholders to discuss the advantages of this initiative.