Www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE IN DIGITAL ELECTORAL PROCESS: The Experience of South-East African.

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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE IN DIGITAL ELECTORAL PROCESS: The Experience of South-East African

Countries and Ghana in the Adoption of High-tech in the Electoral Process

Prof. Charles AyoVice-Chancellor,

Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

A Paper Presented @ the eNigeria 2015 Summit Organized by NITDA, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

2www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng

Outline1. Appreciation2. Introduction

The World Summit on Information Society

Overview of eGovernance and eGovernment Objects of eGovernance Models of eGovernment Overview of eDemocracy

3. Digital Electoral Processes


Outline Cont’d 4. Global Best Practices5. The African Experience6. Challenges of Adoption7. ICT Diffusion8. Recommendations9. Conclusion


Appreciation

Let me start by appreciating the leadership of NITDA, Mr. Peter Jack, for the giant strides he is making towards the Technological Advancement of Nigeria.

I was privileged to attend eNigeria 2004 at the Conference Centre Abuja as an observer. Here I am today a speaker.

Thanks also for sustaining the tempo.


Appreciation Cont’d

As I speak, I know that NITDA has an MoU with CU and I want to assure you that we are committed to the Socio-political, Economic and Technological Advancement of Nigeria.

I want to identify with NITDA that IT is one avenue through which we can leapfrog development and produce future entrepreneurs like Mark, Bill, Dell etc.



Introduction


Introduction• World leaders gathered in Geneva at the turn of

the Millennium to formulate the MDGs, aimed at reducing Poverty by half by 2015 (UN, 2000).

• Also, by December 2003, at the UN Summit (WSIS) came the declaration to build a people-oriented and development-poised information society in which everyone is able to create, access, utilize, and share information, and knowledge (WSIS, 2003).


Introduction Cont’d• Consequently, ICT was recognized as a tool

for achieving the MDGs, through eGovernment, eDemocracy, ePolicing, eHealth, eLearning, eBusiness, eVoting etc.

• Now we have a new mandate called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but we are still pursing virtually the same goals arising from the failure of MDGs.


Introduction Cont’d

• eGovernance & eGovernment• eGovernance in the popular parlance refers

to the governing of a Country/State using ICT. eGovernance therefore means the application of ICT to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of exchange of information and transaction:



• eGovernment is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to run or carry out the business of the Government of a Country.



• The object of eGovernance is to provide a SMARRT Government.

• The Acronym SMARRT refers to Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, Responsible and Transparent Government.


Introduction Cont’dAyo (2009) & Rabaiah and Vandijct (2011) presented the models of Government (Scope of eGovernance) as:

Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Government (G2G), Government to Business (G2B), Government to Employees (G2E), Government to NGOs (G2N), etc.



G2C(eDemocracy)

G2BG2G

Figure 2: eGovernment Models Relationship


Introduction Cont’d• I will be dwelling on G2CG2C applications

Information Dissemination‒Static/ dynamic web pages; documents‒Online data

Citizen Services provision‒Licenses, Government certificates, Taxes, Building, Permits

Direct democracy‒Communications with officials


Introduction Cont’d• e-Democracy tools include:

eParticipation (Chat room/Discussion forum)ePanel ePetitionePollingeConsultationeVotingVirtual Communities, etc.



Digital Electoral Processes


Digital Electoral Processes• The digital electoral processes refer to the

application of ICT to the various facets of the electoral process such as:Registration of Voters & Parties (eRegistration)Authentication of Voters (eVerification)Voting (eVoting)Automated Tallying of Ballot (eTallying)Transmission of Results (eTransmission)


Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d• The motivation for digital electoral

processes include:Reduced common mistakes Immediate feedback on votesElimination of multiple votingConvenience of VotingElimination of paper wastage


Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d

Speedy processing of resultsBackup of votes for audit trailEnhanced confidentiality, security and trust

Reduced chances of bribery and intimidation



eRegistrationVoters• This entails the capture of personal information,

photograph, biometric features, assignment of voter’s card and unique VIN code to all prospective voters.

Parties• Profiling of relevant information on political parties

and their candidates for elective offices.


Digital Electoral Process Cont’d

eRegistration



eVerification

• This involves the authentication of voters based on a 3-factor Authentication (Proposed):What we have (Token or Voter’s Card),What we know (Password or VIN),What we are (Biometrics – Facial, Iris, Fingerprint or Voice).



eVerification



eVoting (e/i/mVoting)• This entails casting of votes via eBallot.

eBallot reduces the chances of multiple voting arising from multiple thumb-printing.



eTallying• This entails implementing an algorithmic

scheme that ensures eCounting of votes (eBallots) for respective candidates.



eTransmission• This entails engaging a public key

cryptosystem to encode election results information before they are sent electronically to the central collation points. This is to prevent the activities of “the man at the middle.”



Global Best Practices


Countries with eVoting Projects

Country Type of System DateBelgium Polling place eVoting First trial in 1991Brazil Polling place eVoting First tested in 1996Germany Remote eVoting First tested in 1999UK Polling place eVoting, Remote eVoting First in 2000Canada Remote eVoting (Internet and Telephone) First in 2003France Polling place eVoting, Remote eVoting First in 2003India Polling place eVoting First in 2004Estonia Remote eVoting First in 2004Portugal Polling place eVoting First in 2004

The Netherlands Polling place eVoting, Remote eVoting First in 2004

World Map of eVotingColour scheme:Grey: no e-votingYellow: discussion and/or voting

technology pilotsOrange: Discussion, concrete

plans for Internet votingDark green: Ballot scanners

and/or Electronic Voting Machines (legally binding)

Green: Internet voting (legally binding) (also used with other

voting technologies)Red: Stopped use of voting

technologies


Lessons from Countries Cont’d

1. Brazil

• First country in the world to implement e-Election through an indigenous technology (URNA).

• Brazil has won a lot of accolades for its affordable and uniform electronic voting machine (EVM) called Urna which was used by its 115 million voters.



1. Brazil• However, before its adoption, there were

series of road shows. It was set-up in bus and train stations, and other public places for all and sundry.

• Urna has been exported to other countries like Argentina and Mexico.



2. US

• The US is referred to as mixed system because the types of e-Voting system adopted vary from one county to another (Ansolabehere, et al., 2005).



2. US

• Thus, it is a combination of:Punched Card Machine (Votomatic); Diebold Machine; Electronic System and Software (ES&S); Optical Scan System; Manual System etc. (Andreu, et al., 2003; Steve, 2004).



2. US

• Some of the issues include:Over-voting;Broadcast storm during transmission;Equipment malfunction;Poorly implemented security;Election rigging;



3. India

• This is the largest democracy.Most of the populace are rural dwellers.The country developed an indigenous EVM. Produced more than a million its 668m voters.There were pilot runs in 5 states.



The African Experience


eElection in Kenya

• In order to curb the problems of the 2007 general election, Kenya adopted a digital election process.

• Three key electoral technologies were rolled out by Kenya’s Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC):


eElection in Kenya

The biometric voter registration (BVR); Voter identification (EVID); and Vote transmission (RTS).


Kenya eElection Challenges

Registration and results transmission system complex (six-ballot-one-day election.)

Short period given to prepare the EVID (days) contributed to its failure on election day.

Breakdown of the biometric identification kits (for thumb scams) on Election Day.


Kenya eElection Challenges

Server overloading: a server meant to take in results from 33,400 voting centers sent via SMS became overloaded;

Hurried operators’ training resulted in some of them forgetting such things as: entering passwords and PIN numbers for the software,

charging the device and observing the mode of the machine.


eElection in Ghana

• Ghana in the last election adopted biometric technology in her electoral process to verify every voter's fingerprint through Biometric Verification Device(BVD).

• A voter was allowed to vote only if his/her identity was confirmed by the BVD.


eElection in Rwanda

The Rwanda’s National Electoral Commission is proposing eVoting for the 2017 election.

The implementation is set to include all citizens in the Diaspora as well and will be used first for the municipal elections in 2016 and later deployed for the national elections in 2017.


eElection in Rwanda

Using online voting, Rwanda was able to get 38,000 Rwandans who live overseas registered and voted in the last parliamentary election.

More numbers are expected to participate in the electoral process with the new system set to kick off.


eElection in Nigeria

No Constitutional backing for eVoting yet.eRegistration was adopted in 2007 through

Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs).Only 10m voters were registered within the

scheduled period, hence an extension was granted.

Shortage of DDCMs (1000 out of 33000 delivered).


eElection in Nigeria

Increased use of technology in 2015.Engagement of Biometric Technology by INEC.Extended use of the social media.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Blogs, etc.Combination of Biometric Authentication and Ballot

paper (eRegistration, eVerification and paper ballot.)Enhanced confidence in the electoral system.Reduced electoral fraud.



Challenges of Adoption


Challenges of Digital Election in Africa

• Lack of legal framework for e-election.• Poor technological development.• Lack of trust• Low literacy level.• Apathy between government and the

electorates



ICT Diffusion


ICT Subscribers statistics/ Rural ICT infrastructure

S/N Services1. Mobile Penetration (per 100 people) 83%2. Fixed penetration (per 100 people) 1.8%3. Internet Penetration (per 100 people) 23.48 (2010)4. Internet Users(000) 43,270 (2010)5. Broadband Penetration 6.1%(2010)6. PC Penetration (Number of PCs per 100) 4.7 (2010)7. Computers Assembled in Nigeria <500,0008. Number of registered ICT companies 3509. Broadcasting stations nationwide 308

S/N Services

1. Mobile Penetration (per 100 people) 107.61% (2015)2. Fixed penetration (per 100 people) 0.10% (2014)3. Internet Penetration (per 100 people) 42.68 (2014)4. Internet Users(000) 97,060 (2015)5. Broadband Penetration 6.1%(2010)6. Fixed Broadband Penetration 0.01% (2014)7. PC Penetration (Number of PCs per 100) 7.6 (2010)8. Number of registered ICT companies 6,809 (2015)9. Broadcasting stations nationwide 308

10. Percentage Contribution of Telecoms Industry to GDP

8.5% (2015)

Source: International Telecommunication Union, Nigeria Communication Commission


ICT Subscribers statistics: Comparing Some Selected Countries

S/N Countries Internet Penetration (%)

Mobile Penetration (%)

Broadband Penetration (Per 100)

Personal Computers

1. Kenya 59.8 (2010) 59.8 (2010) 0.19 (2014) 9.1 (2010)

2. Ghana 47.7 (2010) 47.7 (2010) 0.27 (2014) 11.0 (2012)

3. Rwanda 23.48 (2010) 40.3 (2010) 0.11 (2014) 2.0 (2011)

4. Nigeria 42.68 (2014) 107.61 (2015) 0.01 (2014) 7.6 (2010)

Source: International Telecommunication Union



Recommendations


Recommendations Cont’d Establishment of a legal and regulatory framework to support national use of digital electoral process.

This framework should include recommendation of standards for e-voting and other digital electoral processes.


Recommendations Cont’d

Integrated voting system comprising: Polling Station e-Voting Machine (EVM); Wired Internet (iVoting); and Mobile Internet (mVoting).


Recommendations cont’d

Establishment of an independent certification and accreditation body.

This body is to ensure that technical components of the digital electoral processes are tested and certified.

Adequate training of election clerical staff.


Recommendations cont’d

Early publicity of digital election process to acquaint the public with the processes and procedures.

Further infrastructural development.



Conclusion


Conclusion

The level of adoption of digital electoral processes in Africa is still at its infancy, compared with developments in other parts of the world.

The processes that are mostly adopted in many African countries are eRegistration and eVerification of voters and parties.


Conclusion Cont’d

Incremental adoption of the processes in phases will allow for experimentation, awareness and trust is recommended.

At Covenant University, we have developed eAttendance and eVerification for participation in examination (same as what we used during the last general elections).


Conclusion Cont’d

We have also developed an eVoting system based on 3-factor authentication.

The Card could be RFID based for ease of processing.

The order could be the Card, Fingerprint/VIN

Local efforts should target e/i/mVoting to cater for voting at one’s convenience, anywhere and anytime.


Conclusion Cont’d

Currently, I am working in implementing these issues and I am open to collaboration.

In Europe, they have yearly conference called European Conference on Electronic Government (ECEG).


Conclusion Cont’d

NITDA in Collaboration with CU and bodies can champion same called African Conference on Electronic Government (ACEG).

For two years we have successfully organized the Covenant University Conference on E-government in Nigeria. The next one comes up on June 8-10, 2016. You are all invited!


Thank you for your attention!

Www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE IN DIGITAL ELECTORAL PROCESS: The Experience of South-East African.

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