Kuala lumpur: The Election Commission (EC) will implement the Optical Character Recognition-Voter Attendance (OCR-VA) System on a pilot basis for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election on Saturday (Aug 1). EC secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus announced the deployment of this system at Sekolah Menengah Agama Dato' Klana Petra Maamor, covering polling streams 1 to 7 in the Ampangan state constituency, as part of efforts to enhance the management of the electoral process. According to BERNAMA News Agency, the OCR-VA System is designed to record and mark voters' attendance at polling streams through the automatic scanning of information on their identity cards. This technology is expected to expedite the verification and recording of voter attendance, minimize errors associated with manual attendance marking, and improve the efficiency of polling clerks. Khairul Shahril emphasized that the initiative is part of efforts to digitalize the electoral process by reducing reliance on manual methods without alter ing the prescribed voting procedures. Voters will simply need to present their identity cards to election officials for verification before proceeding with the voting process as per the established guidelines. The EC assures voters that the OCR-VA System is used solely for recording and marking voter attendance and does not interfere with the voting process or the recording of voters' choices. The secrecy of the ballot remains fully protected, and the system is developed with attention to information security and the protection of voters' personal data. Khairul Shahril stated that the outcome of the pilot project would be thoroughly evaluated to assess its effectiveness, operational efficiency, and potential for broader implementation in future elections. The EC seeks the cooperation of all voters during the implementation of this pilot project to ensure a smooth, orderly, and efficient voting process.