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Tag: Electronic voting

  • Afenifere group calls for electronic voting, fresh voters register

    Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) on Sunday advocated implementation of electronic voting in the country before the next general elections.

    It also asked that current voters register be cleaned up before contemplating conduct of the next elections.

    The group says it will continue to agitate for the restructuring of Nigeria’s governance architecture without compromise.

    This stance was conveyed in a communique issued at the end of the group’s 2019 retreat at the Government House, Ado Ekiti.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the communique was read to journalists on Sunday evening at the end of the two-day retreat.

    According to the document, presented by its National Publicity Secretary Mr Kunle Famoriyo, the group says it believes all parts of the country stand to benefit from a properly restructured Nigeria, in spite of whatever fears are harboured by the different nationality groups.

    The ARG also called on state governments in the Southwest to evolve policies that would promote Yoruba identity, values, orientation and economic prosperity.

    ” We demand that the acceptable Yoruba socio-political leadership is one that protects the social welfare interests and values of our people

    ” We, therefore, look forward expectantly to appropriate reforms in the leadership structure. It is trite that when political leadership is wrong, beneficial socio-economic and infrastructural policies are always the causalty,” the group stated.

    While stating its readiness to provide a platform to encourage greater political participation, it called on stakeholders to begin early advocacy on the implementation of the electoral and legislative reforms before the next general elections.

    Read also: Rivers APC kicks as INEC resumes collation of March 9 elections results

    ARG also called for full implementation of electronic voting and clean up of voters register, adding that the exercise must be carried out before the next general election.

    “ARG recognises the importance of the Yoruba Diaspora in the transfer of progressive knowledge and processes in their countries of residence to Yoruba homelands.

    ” This critical demography can help us achieve a lot of progress if they get involved in the political processes right from their different bases, while also offering their technical expertise towards improving the socio-political and economic landscape of the Yoruba homelands,” the group stated. (NAN)

  • UPP urges NASS to pass law to enable electronic voting

    The national leadership of the United Progressive Party (UPP) has urged the National Assembly to pass the necessary law to permit full usage of the Electronic Voting System (EVS).

    The process, UPP said, would further ensure a free and fair 2019 general elections.

    This is part of the resolutions reached by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party in Abuja, as it reviewed the recently-concluded Anambra Governorship election held on November 18.

    UPP NWC also resolved to alert the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Assembly, the Presidency and the general public on the: “unsavoury dimension our democracy has assumed which if not nipped in the bud shall give a completely new definition to democracy as it is practised in Nigeria.”

    National Chairman of the party, Chief Chekwas Okorie, at a news conference after the NWC meeting, said the expected legislation on EVS should empower INEC to prosecute offenders of election funding provisions adding that: “there should be strict laws prohibiting any person from carrying a certain amount of money within the vicinity of a Polling Unit.”

    He said: “UPP is disappointed that most observers that commented on the Anambra Governorship election have tended to play down on the danger posed to our nascent democracy by the monetisation and commercialisation of the election. What happened in the full glare of the general public with some of the drama already streaming in the social media is that political parties set up shops at virtually all the Polling Units to bid for and buy votes. The difference in votes won by these three parties I have mentioned is only in their individual capacity to out-bid one another at different places. In such bazaar the highest bidder always wins.

    “It is difficult to blame a poor voter who has already been rendered vulnerable by a non performing government to resist the lucre of N20,000, N10,000, N5,000 as the case may be for casting his or her vote in a manner required of him or her to earn such windfall. It is important to put in perspective that most of these voters trekked to the Polling Units practically with no money in their pockets because of their unfortunate but avoidable indigence. Presenting such a person with the amounts just mentioned above is rather too tempting to be resisted.

    “The unfortunate aspect of the perfidy in the Anambra Governorship election is that this show of shame took place in the full glare of all the security agencies that covered the election. The accredited Observers and Journalists witnessed the malfeasance and made their findings public.

    “If this dangerous dimension to winning election is allowed to spread across the country then our democracy is doomed. The much expected 2019 general election will be a mere charade. The implication of this unfortunate development is that politicians will consider it wasteful and unnecessary to promote their parties manifestoes and canvass their blueprints for governance during campaigns in order to sell their party and candidature to the electorate. Politicians will consider that all that they have to do is to amass wealth, set up shops at Polling Booths, out-bid their rivals and wait to be congratulated and celebrated for a landslide victory. If this is allowed to gain root, then criminals, money launderers, treasury looters and their likes will take over the political space, occupy juicy elective and appointive offices in Nigeria from the next democratic encounter in 2019. In that way, democracy in Nigeria will definitely assume a new and ridiculous definition. Nigeria will be ruined.

    “We advise as follows: The National Assembly should without further delay and in the interest of our democratic process, pass the necessary laws to usher in full Electronic Voting System (EVS).

    “What we have done here as a responsible and credible Opposition Party is to share our thoughts on this election with the public and we hope that INEC, the National Assembly, the Presidency, Public Affairs Commentators, Pro-Democracy Organisations and Donor Agencies should intervene in their various capacities to save our democracy from going to the dogs.”

     

  • Kaduna SIECOM to introduce electronic voting

    The Kaduna State Independent National Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) has concluded plans to conduct the local government elections through electronic voting.

    Last year, members of the KADSIECOM went on a study trip to Brazil to examine the processes and technology that supports electronic voting there.

    At a news conference to test the working of the machine, Chairman of the commission Dr. Saratu Binta Dikko said the commission was ready to conduct elections.

    According to her, the machines are ready and workers trained on its use. She added that about 6,000 of the machines are needed for the election.

    She said: “We have 5,101 polling units, but some are very large that we split them into two. That explains why we need 6,000 machines for the polls.”

    Dr. Dikko said electronic voting will ensure free and credible election.

     

  • Dawn of electronic voting?

    Dawn of electronic voting?

    Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Senate has amended the Electoral Act and empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use electronic voting for the conduct of polls and the transmission of results. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the prospects and challenges of e-voting in an emerging democracy like Nigeria’s.

    THE Senate has amended the Electoral Act of 2010, legalising the use of Card Readers for authenticating the identity of voters in future elections. The amended Act has also empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results through the electronic device from polling stations to the collation centre.
    Though the House of Representatives is yet to make its own amendment before the bill could be presented to the President for his assent, analysts say the Senate should be commended for this landmark development. They say the legislation is a response to the long-standing public clamour for an electoral system that would eliminate or reduce the disputations that usually occur after elections.
    Since 1964, elections have been problematic; ballot boxes often develop wings and losers are declared winners by the electoral commission. When those boxes resurface at the counting centres, they are stuffed with multiple thump-printed ballot papers. Results declared at the polling centres are usually at variance with those submitted at the collation centre.
    Nigeria’s quest for electronic voting dates back to the Second Republic when the chairman of the defunct Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO), the late Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey, mooted the idea for the 1983 general elections. The plan was vehemently opposed to by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). He threatened to call out his supporters to smash the machines, because he had lost confidence in the electoral body to conduct a free and credible election.
    Again, in 2006, when the former INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, proposed electronic voting for the 2007 polls, it was greeted with criticism. The pan–Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, rejected the innovation, saying that the country was not ripe for it. The organisation cited low literacy level and lack of time to ascertain its worth and workability. Besides, it alleged that Iwu had a hidden agenda. Afenifere described e-voting under Iwu as an electronic rigging mechanism.
    A former Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Abubakar Kyari, commended the upper legislative chamber for scaling the constitutional hurdle against electronic voting, by amending Section 52 (2) of the Electoral Act that prohibits e-voting system. He said Nigeria’s electoral umpire would be empowered to make the electoral process fully electronic if the bill is ratified by the President.
    Kyari said: “If you remember the fallout of the 2015 election was the use of the Smart Card Reader. You will also remember court judgments that did not accept the use of the Card Reader as part of the process of accrediting the voter. You will also understand that the Smart Card Reader is not used in voting, but used as a means of accrediting a prospective voter.
    “We also had minor lapses with the Smart Card Reader during the 2015 general elections. One thing is certain: the Card Reader did not fail to read cards, what they failed to do was to tie the cards with the individuals through their biometrics. The Card Readers refused, in some instances, to connect the biometric fingerprints to the cards. So, there were many problems with Smart Card Readers.
    “What we did in essence was to authenticate the use of Smart Card Readers as a means of accrediting a voter in the Electoral Act. That is one of the major landmarks that we have embedded in the Electoral Act. Another major amendment is the use of any other electronic devices for election. The Smart Card Reader, as the name connotes, is specific to reading the smart card. But, what we have now done is that we have also given INEC opportunity to use any other technological devices in the process; not necessarily sticking to the Card Reader.
    “We have expanded the definition of that instrument or any other instrument that will guide INEC in terms of accreditation. We have also given INEC the powers to introduce the electronic voting, through any technological devices that the body may deem fit, if it thinks the time is right.” His assertion is contained in the amended section that states: “The commission shall adopt electronic voting in all elections or any other method of voting as may be determined by the commission from time to time.”
    A lawyer, Dr Ajibola Basiru, has described the introduction of e-voting by the Senate as a progressive development in the nation’s political history. He recalled that the Nigerian experience with democracy has for long been marred by a fraudulent electoral system whereby ballot stuffing, snatching of ballot boxes, manipulation of results and compromise of electoral officials to falsify results had become the norm. As a result, people have lost confidence in Nigerian elections and the results they produce.
    But, Basiru said some serious challenges must be addressed for the new system to work. For instance, he said it will be a disaster to conduct electronic voting in remote villages that are not connected to national grid. He said the introduction of e-voting is a challenge for Nigeria to improve on her power supply.
    Basiru said: “Under electronic voting system, the results must be transmitted electronically. How many wards are connected to the data base? We need to reform our social infrastructure that will make this new device work.
    “It is good the Electoral Act has recognised Smart Card Reader which the Supreme Court had refused to accept, because it was not provided for in the Act. INEC should make provisions for 30 to 40 per cent back up, to avoid the embarrassment usually caused by Card Reader failure on the day of election.”
    The lawyer said there must be a change in the attitude of the political class, to accept that election is not a do or die. He said: “If the intention is to serve, contestants should allow the voters to make free choice and let the peoples vote count. Bloodletting and thuggery should be avoided.”
    Civil rights activist and the President of the Nigerian Voters’ Assembly (VOTAS), Comrade Mashood Erubami, said the adoption of electronic voting by the Senate in the amended electoral law is a welcome development. He said the Senate’s decision was a timely recognition of the clamour of Nigerians for a better and transparent electoral system in the country.
    Erubami said: “Electronic voting in the 2019 elections is good for fair election and peaceful democratic consolidation in Nigeria. It is a timely recognition of the mass clamour for the conduct of efficient, reliable and fair elections. It is a constitutional permission given to INEC to conduct election anew, through the refining of the current method of casting votes, counting votes and collation of results with the use of new technology.”
    A software engineer, Bassey Ekong, said e-voting, if properly administered, will improve the credibility of the elections, de-emphasise the militarisation of polls and increase transparency. He said since e-voting gives little or no room for manipulation during the voting, its adoption would reform and clean up the process.
    Ekong said the e-voting system saves cost and time, adding that it increases participation by citizens and eliminates human error in vote-count, while re-counting is eliminated.
    However, the software engineer said infrastructure is the major challenge. He said: “Nigeria lacks the machines and software required for the functioning of the e-voting. We are not particularly known for our skills in technology and as a result, the electoral commission employees will have to learn how to operate the machines.
    “With the intractable challenge in electricity supply and the poor Information Technology (IT) skills of the majority of our population, INEC must start preparation immediately if it plans to use e-voting in 2019.”
    To Abdullahi Jimeta, the gains recorded with the use of Card Readers in the 2015 general elections goes a long way to show that with the adoption of e-voting, the country will record a huge success in democratic governance.
    Jimeta, an electrical engineer, said the country was ripe for transition to electronic voting. He said: “In adopting a new device, there must be a little bit of disruption in the system. With the use of the Card Readers in the last general elections, there was a significant reduction in electoral fraud. However, a few challenges still existed as no technology is 100 per cent perfect.”
    Jimeta said this is the time to ensure that there is adequate infrastructure in place to handle it. He described how e-voting operates: “Once a voter’s number is entered at the polling unit, it pulls up the details of the voter from the list of registered voters. Verification will no longer be a problem. During voting, once a voter clicks on the icon of a chosen party, the same information hits the INEC back-end.”
    This, according to him, will go a long way in reducing litigations as INEC can provide verifiable evidence in court. The engineer believes the crisis of confidence and lack of trust in Nigerian electoral system would be restored.
    Jimetta is convinced that with the introduction of e-voting, voters will no longer travel back to their wards to cast their votes; they can vote from anywhere in the country. Furthermore, INEC can monitor the entire process easily as each electronic voting device is equipped with a tracker and can be configured to shut down immediately voting ends.
    Erubami listed the advantages o e-voting thus: “It allows for easy cross-checking through printout just as checklist used by observers to collate information from short code messages and GSM phone line; it can be used to bridge time between accreditation, election and declaration of results, as it reduces declaration of wrong figures which manual voting offers.
    “It eliminates disputes that had usually accompanied manual voting, counting and result declaration without long drawn litigation; it prevents ballot snatching; it combines speed and accuracy; it’s quite dependable, time effective, and provides easy access to even the physically challenged; it makes the votes of voters to be counted and upholds the wishes of the people and boost the confidence of stakeholders on the electoral process.”
    The VOTAS President said transparency is easily ascertainable in e-voting system, because the machine will be positioned in the full glare of the electorate, before the party agents, domestic and international observers. It minimises some aspect of rigging such as voters’ impersonation, multiple voting, card stealing and vote buying.
    In adopting any technological options available in the market, Ekong advised INEC to take cognisance of where such devices have worked in existing democracies. Besides, the decisions on acquisition and deployment must be subjected to rigorous due process in order to ascertain what is best for the country and the people.

  • Electronic voting: Long way to go, says INEC

    Electronic voting: Long way to go, says INEC

    • May commence process with Anambra election in November

    Nigeria is still way off the introduction of electronic voting regardless of the decision of the Senate to legalise it for use from 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suggested yesterday.
    The commission, contacted on the March 30, 2017 decision of the Senate on the amendments to the 2015 Electoral Act, legalising the use of Card Reader Innovation and e-voting said a lot of work remains to be done before the decision can be implemented.
    The agency said it was following keenly the current amendment to the electoral law.
    The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, called it a yet to be finished product.
    He explained that the House of Representatives will have to pass the bill, followed by harmonisation of the bill by both Chambers of the National Assembly before it is presented to the president for his signature.
    He said that once the processes are completed, the INEC management team will meet and then take a decision.
    But for now, he said, “we need to let it be a finished product.”
    Some stakeholders who interacted with the electoral umpire while the bill was still being processed in the Senate sounded optimistic yesterday that INEC is ready to use the electronic system as soon as the legal processes are concluded and that it has commenced plans to start with Anambra State Governorship Election.
    One of the national leaders of the political parties, Chief Chekwas Okorie, the National Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), who participated in the recent INEC’s briefings with party leaders told The Nation yesterday that “INEC assured political leaders, about a week before Senate’s passage of the bill, that once the processes are concluded and it becomes law, it will implement it in the November Governorship Election in Anambra State.”
    Okorie, who described the Senate decision on the issue as a welcome development, said: “UPP as a party has been passionate over this innovation for a long time.
    “We presented our memorandum on it to former President Goodluck Jonathan and later to President Muhammadu Buhari.
    “We had also sent our memorandum on it to all the members of the Senate and House of Representatives of both the 7th and the 8th National Assembly.
    “So, we are happy the Senate has passed the bill and we believe the House and the President will follow suit to enable Mr. President to sign it into law.”
    He dismissed fears that Nigerians and INEC may not be ready to use the device effectively.
    “We all know it will help to stop rigging at the polling booths where thugs are employed by rich but unpopular candidates to hijack votes and insert fake results.
    “With electronic transmission of election results simultaneously, there will be no more works for such thugs. We are used to the use of card readers though many of them malfunctioned.
    “But now, the card readers have been improved upon and upgraded. They will make use of batteries that can last for eight hours and elections in Nigeria do not last up to eight hours.”
    Asked to comment on the development, All Progressives Congress’ (APC) National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said his party is yet to take a formal position on the matter and that he would not want to give a personal opinion.
    But the court-backed National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, in his response described it as a welcome development.
    He, however, expressed reservations about issues of accuracy of the device.
    In a telephone chat yesterday, Sheriff, who spoke through his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, said the electoral body must ensure that error is minimised in the use of the device.
    He said: “It’s a welcome development provided INEC can guarantee 95 percent accuracy. Electronic voting is not a bad idea in a democracy but measures must be put in place to avoid unintended backlash.
    “After the 2015 general elections, the INEC had a meeting with political parties where it was revealed that some card readers deployed for the voting exercise failed to capture seven million votes.
    “But the unfortunate thing was that the seven million votes were recorded in the final counting. We feel that the margin of error was just too high.
    “So we can only hope that this type of error will not happen in future elections so as not to erode the confidence of the political parties and voters in the system and the operators.”

  • Electronic voting in Kenya

    Electronic voting in Kenya

    Holding credible periodic elections has become the irreducible minimum requirement of the democratic system. In Europe, North America and other developed parts of the world, the poll has become a good measure of the standing of candidates and a means of handing mandates to political parties to run their countries for specified periods. The sanctity of the ballot box has been established in such climes over the decades.

    But this is not so in most parts of Africa where rigging has remained an ugly feature of politicking and balloting. It is in view of the odium it has invited that countries in the continent are making efforts to shake off the reproach by employing technology in a bid to deliver free, fair and credible elections devoid of rancour and disputation.

    Kenyans decided after the 2007 polls that claimed more than 1,000 lives that the ugly episode should be consigned to the history books. First, there was a widely acclaimed constitution review process that involved all. It was sealed with a referendum that produced a peoples’ constitution. The new constitution was specially designed to stamp out the ethnic tension that grips every election and turns polling into battle.

    The East Africans took another logical step by investing in Biometric Voter Registration. It was designed to eliminate ghost voters and aid speedy balloting and vote counting. The first opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system came with the March 4 presidential election, fought mainly by the Prime Minister, Raila Odinga and his deputy, Uhuru Kenyatta. Uhuru, son of the country’s first President Jomo Kenyatta, went to the poll with a slight edge, given the backing he received from President Mwai Kibaki. But Odinga, who is believed to have won the 2007 election against the incumbent trusted in the solid Coalition for Reforms and Democracy to upstage the Jubilee Coalition candidate, Kenyatta. It was not just about the presidential election, there were also elections into the counties to take democracy to the grassroots.

    Contrary to expectations, the electronic register failed and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ordered recourse to manual voting and counting. This is largely responsible for the delay in declaring the results.

    Despite the hiccups similar to the experience in Ghana last year, it is commendable that the Kenyans have taken a major step forward. The system was introduced at the instance of the political parties, politicians and candidates who were determined to put the reproach of 2007 behind them.

    In Ghana, too, the electronic platform could not be put to optimum use. We see the development as a wake-up call for Africa. The continent cannot afford to be left behind by the developed world.

    In this, Nigeria has a major role to play. As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is the hope of the continent. And, without a transparent process of election of leaders, development would remain a mirage and our country will remain a laughing stock in the comity of nations.

    We recall that public money was invested in revamping the electoral system ahead of the 2011 poll and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unequivocally promised to deliver a Biometric Voter Register for the election. While Kenya and Ghana managed to put the register on display and made adjustments as the situation demanded, the Nigerian electoral commission could not show the electorate what it had invested so heavily on.

    There are lessons to be learnt from the Ghanaian and Kenyan balloting. First, it is clear that the way forward is to embrace the electronic platform. The recent election in Ondo State is a reminder that the manual platform, however well meaning the officials are, is open to abuse and cannot be trusted to return the will of the people. Second, it is better, given Nigeria’s size and population, to use the electronic register in small elections in order to discover the weak points and tidy up before general elections.

    In this wise, we call on INEC to demonstrate the use of the register in the Anambra, Ekiti and Osun polls coming up between now and next year. It is unacceptable that taxpayers’ money was invested in a project that has obviously not been executed.

    INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and his team should prove all wrong by ensuring that all votes count in 2015 and anyone who tries to pervert the will of the people is caught in the act and prosecuted as a deterrent to further abuse of the electoral system.

  • ACN wants electronic voting in 2015

    The Action Congress of Nigeria on Sunday said the country must use electronic voting  in 2015 in order to ensure the integrity of its elections.

    The party also called for the hand over of elections back to Nigerians instead of the judiciary.

    ACN in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said with electronic voting, the overall cost of elections will be far less; there will be stability in the polity, the atmosphere of war usually associated with elections will disappear and the involvement of the security agencies will be de-emphasized.

    It said though Section 52 sub-section 2 of the Electoral Act bans the use of electronic voting ”for the time being”, the National Assembly should move quickly to amend that part of the law, while the Federal Government should provide the Independent National Electoral Commission with all the resources needed to make electronic voting a reality.

    The statement reads:

    ”We assure INEC of our full support towards using electronic voting in 2015. We also appeal to all other political parties, Civil Society Organizations and indeed all Nigerians to join us in pushing for a system that will eliminate the role of thugs and sideline vote thieves during our elections, in addition to making our elections free, fair and credible.

    ”While electronic voting is not a magic wand, it is the surest way yet for Nigeria to join the league of countries that have wiped out electoral fraud, which is the worst form of corruption. It is also the best way to hand over Nigeria’s elections back to Nigerians, instead of having the judiciary determine who wins what contest. Two years is a long enough time to achieve this.”

    The party argued that even Ghana, which has organised perhaps the best elections in this part of the world, has realized it can no longer continue with manual voting, hence it did not wait for troubles associated with electoral malfeasance to break out before embracing electronic voting during its last general elections in December.

    ”It is not just enough for us to sit back in envy while the world hails our neighbour Ghana for being a model in electoral rectitude and participatory democracy. Let us ask ourselves what we need to do differently to shed our toga of electoral fraud and brigandage.

    ”Yes, there were some hiccups during the last elections in Ghana, which were conducted with electronic voting. But Ghana quickly moved to correct whatever problems came up. The system also allowed Ghana to extend voting without fearing that ballot boxes will be hijacked or stuffed,” it added.