Today (Sunday), Omani voters began voting to elect members of the Shura Council for the tenth term. These elections are conducted through e-voting using the “Chosen” application launched for this purpose.

These elections are usually conducted through electronic applications, such as registering voters, publishing lists or registering candidates, as well as conducting most of the election campaigns, directing voters to vote, and filing appeals and objections. Electronic use.

Oman Telecom confirmed that security systems are working with high efficiency and no cyber attack attempts have been recorded.

As many as 843 candidates, including 32 women, are contesting this election, as per the final lists of candidates to elect 90 members, the voting process continues till 7 pm (today evening).

A total electorate of 753,690 voters participated in the election, electing 90 members from 843 candidates, including 32 women.

Last Sunday, Omani voters abroad cast their ballots, 13,843 of whom voted from outside the Sultanate of Oman via electronic voting.

The Omani Shura Council, established in 1991 to replace a consultative body established in 1981, is a consultative body elected for a 4-year term and has deliberative, proposal and amendment powers of the state. Public and economic policies. According to its constitution, its powers are based on expressing opinions, discussing and making recommendations, but it does not interfere in matters related to defence, internal security and foreign policy.

The Omani Shura Council (elected) is the second legislative chamber along with the State Council (appointed). They form a body called the “Council of Oman” which includes the State and Shura Councils.

Oman was one of the first countries to adopt electronic voting in elections. The technology was used for the first time in 2019 among Omanis voting abroad, and then the technology was used again in the municipal council elections in December 2022.

The Elections Oversight Committee said that the second version of the “Intecap” app has brought a tangible qualitative change in the electoral process in the Sultanate of Oman, introducing new improvements and updates. Optional sign language feature for disabled (blind) and deaf and dumb.

Using the latest technologies in the field of cryptography, the application is characterized by high level of security and the voter data is verified in 3 basic steps: it involves photographing the original ID card on both sides, then reading the ID card data through the NFC feature and taking a personal photo of the voter, the team said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs provided more than 12 electronic election services including election services; Preliminary and final lists of candidates, preliminary and final lists of voters, verification of entry in the voter register and tracking of automatic counting indicators on polling day etc. The application also provides numerical statistics showing each vote percentage. State, and age and gender groups of voters and provides a service that submits recommendations and reports to application users.

The website also offers a special page for candidates through which their election plans are presented and explained to voters, as well as a “dialogue room” that allows discussion of election-related issues.

Stating that data and information will be available with full transparency by broadcasting indicators and statistics directly on polling day, the ministry stressed that the electoral process for the tenth term is characterized by accuracy, transparency of data and speed of its flow. After all electoral services are introduced to digital transformation.

This morning, Interior Minister Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi and several members of the core committee for electing members of the Shura Council visited the operations room to manage the electoral system and its applications hosted on the electronic cloud. At the headquarters of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel).

Talal bin Saeed Al Mamari, CEO of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), confirmed that the security systems are working with high efficiency and no attempts at cyber attacks have been recorded.

The electoral process comes as part of the digital transformation in the Sultanate of Oman through the “Intekhab” application, which proves that it is possible to use technology in complex and sensitive processes like the electoral process, which can be fruitful. There are huge efforts by the government and private sectors to facilitate the smoothness and flow of the electoral process.

A number of system improvements have been introduced in the current electoral process to accommodate the high voter turnout, and artificial intelligence techniques have been added to provide tools to monitor the progress of the electoral process in real time.