Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo has challenged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to explore different alternatives for the electoral back up systems.
Speaking on Wednesday, the legislator who is also a telecommunications expert argued that the country can still venture into an electronic voting back up system, without necessarily reverting back to manual in case of system failure as suggested by a section of stakeholders.
“It is not true for anyone to tell us that the only way to back up the electronic system is through a manual system,’’ he said.
Gumbo identified the use of satellite telephones, 3G networks and visualisation for algorithm development (VisAD) as some of the alternative avenues that can be used in place of manual voting.
“A manual system cannot back up an electronic system. The IEBC needs to consider providing 3G network to the parts of the country that are not covered," he said.