Abu Dhabi, November 25, 2020 – The Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MFNCA) organised an interactive lecture on the ‘Legal Basis of e-Voting’ – the 6th session in the ongoing series of talks titled the ‘Electoral Culture Virtual Majlis’ Initiative.
The lecture featured His Excellency Zayed Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Consultants (EALL), who spoke about the legislative frameworks for e-voting and its role in facilitating the electoral process for the Federal National Council (FNC) elections and ensuring accuracy and transparency.
Al Shamsi began the lecture by noting the importance of the FNC as the legislative and advisory authority that supports the executive authority’s decision-making process. “The Council embodies the Shura approach, long adopted by the UAE,” he said. “It is a leading institution where the values of political participation are brought to the fore, and where citizens participate in decision-making by electing a representative to the FNC to voice their opinions and needs to decision makers.”
“The UAE’s wise leadership realised that technology is the language of this era. With that in mind, great strides were made in introducing and promoting modern technologies in every aspect of people’s lives,” H.E. Al Shamsi added. “The UAE now ranks first in the Arab region and eighth in the world on Global Finance Magazine’s Ranking of National Tech Strength, which evaluates the performance of 67 countries in the global tech race. With a composite score of 3.587, the UAE ranks higher than countries renowned for technological progress, such as South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Japan.”
“The Political Empowerment Program announced by UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the 34th UAE National Day in 2005 was a major leap forward in the UAE’s parliamentary progress,” Al Shamsi explained. “The Program expanded the FNC’s role and spearheaded a notable shift in political development where half of all Federal National Council members would be voted into office for the first time.”
The first FNC election was organised in 2006, a year after the Political Empowerment Program was launched, and have since been held every four years. The fourth and most recent election in 2019 registered a great turnout from voters. A Special Committee for Smart Systems was established for the first time to provide technical services and ensure a seamless and secure electoral process.
“As part of its commitment to achieving excellence in all fields, the UAE approved and implemented e-voting following rigorous studies and experiments to ensure the accuracy and security of technical systems,” H.E. continued. “Such advanced systems have been implemented in several countries famed for their pioneering electoral experience. e-Voting has tremendous advantages, from its unmatched ability to store information to its notable speed in announcing election results, in addition to accuracy, transparency, reliability, and security during elections.”
“The UAE’s e-Voting system is highly advanced and relies on biometric data stored onto smart cards to verify the identity of the voters. Procedure-wise, e-voting is carried out using sophisticated, touchscreen computers where voters select their preferred candidates, after which electronic encryption technology is used to count the votes to ensure the integrity of the vote and protect voter information,” Al Shamsi explained.
While there are certain risks and challenges associated with e-voting, such as possible technical difficulties, security breaches, and potential lack of tech-savviness among some voters and poll workers, the UAE’s advanced legislation and infrastructure allow the country to deal with all of these challenges and ensure the continuity, accuracy, and integrity of the electoral process.