By empty (8/17/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Central Electoral Commission tested its Saylau electronic-voting system in Astana on 16 August before an audience of political-party representatives, journalists, and international observers, Khabar TV reported. In the mock election, 45 voters voted for a variety of candidates. Commission head Zagipa Balieva pronounced herself satisfied with the exercise.
The Central Electoral Commission tested its Saylau electronic-voting system in Astana on 16 August before an audience of political-party representatives, journalists, and international observers, Khabar TV reported. In the mock election, 45 voters voted for a variety of candidates. Commission head Zagipa Balieva pronounced herself satisfied with the exercise. She noted that the commission hopes that the system will be used by 30-40 percent of voters in the 19 September parliamentary elections, although she added that a final decision depends on the outcome of further testing, Khabar TV reported. But Robert Barry, the head of the OSCE\'s election observation mission in Kazakhstan, urged caution. \"When we were making a preliminary evaluation of our mission in June and July, we determined pretty clearly that it would be a concern for us if such an electronic-voting system were to be introduced in a large scale during the elections in September,\" Interfax-Kazakhstan quoted Barry as saying on 16 August. (RFE/RL)