{
  "id": 19761141,
  "title": "Melaka polls: OCR-VA system won’t affect voting secrecy or time taken to vote, says EC",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/melaka-polls-ocr-va-system-wont-affect-voting-secrecy-or-time-taken",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-13T05:24:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/11/13/melaka-polls-ocr-va-system-wont-affect-voting-secrecy-or-time-taken-to-vote-says-ec/243088"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "According to the Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Dr Azmi Sharom, the implementation of the Optical Character Recognition-Voters Attendance (OCR-VA) system in the Melaka State Elections will not affect the secrecy of votes or the time taken to vote. Dr Azmi expressed his hope that the public and all stakeholders would accept the system positively as part of ongoing efforts to modernize the country's voting process. He noted that the system is simple, accurate, and easy to understand, and that election workers find it neither confusing nor complicated. Dr Azmi stated that the OCR-VA system allows for real-time collection and display of voter attendance data on the commission's website, as opposed to the previous method, which was updated once every hour. He advised voters to check their polling centres and voting streams in advance via MySPR Semak to avoid going to the wrong location. Those without internet access are advised to arrive earlier and check their details at the EC's checking counters set up outside polling centres. For the latest updates on the state election, visit https://election.bernama.com/prn/melaka/2026/.",
  "summary": "JASIN, Nov 13 — The use of the Optical Character Recognition-Voters Attendance (OCR-VA) system has no direct impac...",
  "key_points": [
    "OCR-VA system will not impact voting secrecy",
    "System aims to modernize voting process",
    "Real-time attendance data displayed online"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Transitioning to real-time attendance tracking through the OCR-VA system marks a shift toward digital modernization that prioritizes immediate data transparency for election stakeholders during the Melaka state polls.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}