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Abdul Razak Ali Issa, BankMuscat CEO, gets his ID registered for eVoting through a mobile unit at the bank's headquarters in Seeb. Image Credit: Supplied Picture

Muscat: Nomination for the seventh term of Oman's Majlis Al Shura will start from January 2 and the last date of submission is February 2.

The Election Commission has also started registering personal identification cards of voters through mobile units.

The mobile units to register voters' IDs for eVoting are currently visiting different government departments as well as private corporate houses in Muscat.

Eligible voters are required to register their ID card with the election commission to be eligible to cast their respective votes to elect members to the 84-seat Majlis Asshura's seventh term.

A spokesman for the election commission said that the advanced electronic system is expected to encourage citizens to take part in the voting and election of candidates, as it has several advantages.

"The system is the translation of the government's move towards integrating the e-government concept and keep pace with modern developments," noted the spokesperson.

The EC hopes the new system would help speed up counting of votes and also eliminate any possibility of bogus voting.

The newly built BankMuscat head office in Seeb, which houses over 2000 employees, became the first private sector entity to get the mobile unit for registering voters' IDs for eVoting.

"BankMuscat is honoured to be chosen as the first private sector organisation in the country to launch the eVoting card activation system. The new process marks a major step as part of the government's ambitious e-Governance initiative," said Sulaiman Al Harthy, Group DGM – Consumer Banking.

"As on previous occasions in which BankMuscat has taken the lead in supporting major national initiatives, the bank is proud to launch the eVoting card activation process," he added.