Saudi Delegate Reviews the National Elections Organization Experience

A delegate from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reviewed the experience of the UAE in organizing the Federal National Council (FNC) 2011 elections during its visit to the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs.

The meeting with the Saudi delegate addressed the operational plan of the Election Management Committee and the subcommittees of the National Election Committee as well as technical, financial and administrative support and means of provision of human resources.

During the meeting, light was shed on the electronic voting program for the FNC’s 2011 elections which was developed and supervised by the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) where the e-voting process in the elections relied on the ID card.

EIDA played a vital role in the FNC’s elections by heading the Infrastructure Committee that has been responsible for months for developing the e-voting system and supervising the readiness of the technical aspects of that advanced system throughout the state. In addition, EIDA was a member in the National Election Committee.

EIDA indicated that 500 of its employees tried the system before the Election Day. They were also involved during the long Election Day by managing the data of the voters and welcoming them and providing technical support and performing other administrative and logistical tasks, which facilitated the e-voting process while ensuring transparency and integrity in addition to other privileges like saving time and ensuring speedy voting.