Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) members Bryan Lim Boon Heng and Khung Wai Yeen have shared a video of the new counting machines introduced by the Elections Department for the upcoming elections.
The machines are automatic and aim to speed up the process of counting votes.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Lim wrote: “Khung Wai Yeen & I have verified that they are standalone machines which are not connected to the Internet.”
The video showed a counting agent with a stack of 100 voting cards. He removed two to show that he held 98 cards. He put them into the machine to be counted. Resembling an automatic money counting machine, it confirmed that it was a stack of 98 cards.
The counting agent then included the remaining two cards in the stack and put it through the machine again. It confirmed that there were 100 voting cards.
Lim also confirmed with the agent that the machines would not be used to sort votes. The sorting of votes would still be a manual process, but the counting would be automated, the counting agent said.
As promised, this is the counting machine video. As the saying goes, “seeing is believing”. Khung Wai Yeen 江伟贤- SDP & I have verified that they are standalone machines which are not connected to the Internet. Also, candidates/counting agents who wish to witness the pre-counting test on the accuracy of the machines can do so at 7.30pm before counting commences.Once the machines have passed the test, labels will be affixed to indicate their viability for deployment to the counting tables. However, please note that sorting & adjudication of ballot papers are still done manually.The primary reason why I put up these posts/videos is to dispel the myths & allay the fears behind these new ELD initiatives. If anyone still remains skeptical, I will like to sincerely invite you to volunteer with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) as polling/counting agents so that you have a chance to partake & witness the electoral process from start to finish.Only when you partake in this electoral journey, will you be able to realize that it is very difficult for election fraud to be committed. This will be a golden opportunity for you to uphold the integrity of the voting process if your fears can’t be allayed.If we do not at least have the confidence and show some belief in the electoral processes, then it will be very difficult for us to convince the skeptics, fence sitters & swing voters to cast their votes our way. #SDPNOW #TheWayForward #MYTforSDP#现在民主党 #引领向前
Posted by Bryan Lim Boon Heng (林文兴) on Saturday, 14 December 2019
“Candidates/counting agents who wish to witness the pre-counting test on the accuracy of the machines can do so at 7.30 pm before counting commences,” Lim wrote in his post.
He explained: “The primary reason why I put up these posts/videos is to dispel the myths & allay the fears behind these new ELD initiatives.
“If anyone still remains skeptical, I will like to sincerely invite you to volunteer with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) as polling/counting agents so that you have a chance to partake & witness the electoral process from start to finish.”
Lim explained that only when one takes part in the electoral process does one realize that it is very difficult for election fraud to be committed. “This will be a golden opportunity for you to uphold the integrity of the voting process if your fears can’t be allayed,” he added.
“If we do not at least have the confidence and show some belief in the electoral processes, then it will be very difficult for us to convince the skeptics, fence sitters & swing voters to cast their votes our way,” Lim said. /TISG
Read related: Elections Department introduces improvements for the upcoming General Election
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