WE ADVISED EBC OF POSSIBLE MIX-UP - SIONARY

MBABANE – Sionary Investment has come out to speak on the ongoing mix-up of voters’ names in the general election’s voter register.
Sionary Investment is the company that was enlisted by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to upgrade the elections management system (EMS) that was developed by Slomoes Corporation for the 2018 General Elections.

After reports of registered voters’ names appearing in wrong constituencies, the official 2023 General Elections vendor claims to have foreseen the possible mix-up and advised EBC against releasing the register. Responding to questions from this publication, company Director Nonjabuliso Dlamini said the commission printed the voter register before the system had fluidly sorted out the names according to the stations where the entrants were made.

She mentioned that the process was important because there were a number of pop-up registration stations and therefore a need for the cleaning process first before the validation. “A raw roll was printed and nothing had been done to clean it. The commission was aware that the roll was still raw and we advised them against it but due to pressure and timelines they continued. However, we are grateful that the mix-up has been attended to and I can assure that as of  next week, the register will have less issues and they will not be that significant,” she said.      

Specified

A voters register is a compilation that lists all persons entitled to vote for elections at a particular constituency in a specified election period. The list is usually broken into polling stations under the constituencies, and is primarily prepared to assist election officials and voters at the polling stations during the process. It is also used to verify and validate if registrants were registered at correct constituencies or not. EBC Communication Officer Mbonisi Bhembe said the commission was working around the clock in resolving the issues that were identified within the period of inspecting the voters register. “The commission will not withdraw the voters register, however updated versions would be circulated until the final voters register is issued,” said Bhembe.

A brief history on the progression of the general election system reflects that EBC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), commissioned an assessment evaluation of the system after the 2013 election process. The assessment included the hardware and the software of the system, their functionality and performance. Based on the specifications of the EMS and scope of the project’s connectivity, a team of experts from the Ministry of ICT and EBC technicians were also given the mandate to assess the status and strength of the country’s network. Generally, the assessment indicated that network coverage was above 90 per cent and it varied from 2G to 4G with the latter being prevalent only in urban or industrial areas.

Consideration

After careful consideration of the assessment report, it was gathered that the 2013 system and some components were obsolete and could not be re-used for the 2018 General Elections. The commission, therefore, had to engage a new vendor to supply the EMS. Due to limited funds however, a decision was taken to rent a system that would enrol voters, process and produce the required election reports using new customised software.
A procurement process was conducted and Slomoes Corporation was awarded to supply the EMS on a rent-to-buy agreement. Slomoes developed and monitored the system on behalf of EBC in the 2018 election process. The system was eventually handed over to EBC after the intricacies of the rent-to-buy deal were completed.

EBC, ahead of the 2023 General Elections, then decided to upgrade the system and resolved to engage a private vendor through an open government tender process. According to EBC, the EMS had modules and functionalities that needed to be developed by a reputable private service provider.
These modules included, but not limited to, the automatic biometric identification system (ABIS) and a need for the system to be configured to work in an online mode for real-time updates. The commission also requested the provision of IT Specialists from the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) to assist in the tender evaluation process.

Support

The specialists were to also assist in the planning, provision of first-line support and execution of activities that were related to the EMS. Sionary Investments was awarded the over E27.9 million tender for the system upgrade, to be used in the general elections. The company won the tender ahead of about 15 other contestants in the tendering process. Section 22 of the Elections Act No. 6, 2013 explains the process leading to the release of the voters register by the commission.

Section 22

1. The voters’ register, or the division of the voters register that is to be used for an election, are those that exist on the day the election is proclaimed.
2. By not later than a date to be specified by the Commission, the commission shall certify the voters’ register or the segments of the voters’ register to be used in that election.
3.     The Commission shall publish the register to be used in the election and make it available for inspection at the following venues −
l     at the head office of the commission, the segments of the register for all Tinkhundla in which the election will take place;
l     in each inkhundla, the segments for all polling stations in which the election will take place; and
l     in urban or industrial centres, the segments for all polling stations in which the election will take place.

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