The move toward Nigerian e-voting in 2019

There is a rising movement to modernize and improve Nigeria, working to overcome its history of societal and governmental challenges. A challenge for the nation in transition is to open up the democracy to its citizens with a safe, secure and reliable electoral system.

The road has been long, hard and arduous as Nigeria tries to establish a robust electronic voting infrastructure for its elections. This dates back to at least 1999 when the nation ended a 30-year dictatorial regime and replaced it with what it hoped to be a functional democracy. The nation has struggled to offer fair, free and transparent elections since 2012 and the move to electronic voting could help to achieve this mission.

National elections involve a lot of planning and they can exert widespread impact both in Nigeria itself and abroad. Interestingly enough, some schools in Nigeria may present a viable example for the country at large to follow. The Adeyemi University of Education recently held elections to choose its student government. The process was deemed a success and it is now being seen as “a template for students' elections across the country and even a model for national elections in the country.”

Particular attention is being paid to how Adeyemi implemented and ran its student election using electronic voting technology. Students could vote just about anywhere using the Internet, using their mobile phones. For students without Internet access, four ICT centres and polling units were provided, including Uninterrupted Power Supply units for better and more reliable performance. In a country where access to electricity and Internet may be difficult, these are a must.

Student body governments and elections cannot be immediately equated to the processes and procedures of a full and functional government, but they can serve as an example of what is possible and within reach today. As Nigeria moves forward toward using e-voting on a national scale, including its experimentation with biometric authentication of voter identities, support is growing for the adoption of this technology.

Indeed, both the National Association of Peaceful Elections in Nigeria (NAPEN) and the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) are strongly encouraging the introduction of early voting and full electronic voting in time for the 2019 general elections. They are looking at the introduction of the card readers as a first-step toward e-voting, for instance, as well as improving peace education to limit the violence observed in past Nigerian elections.

By the time of the 2019 general elections, Nigeria would have already had 20 uninterrupted years of democratic rule. To this end, it has been argued that now is the time “to consolidate on the baby steps taken over the last 5 elections.” Many logistical issues plagued the 2015 elections, including the millions of disenfranchised Nigerians who could not vote or chose not to vote for fear of violence.

Electoral reform is clearly needed and it should not be left to the last minute. The time to prepare for the 2019 e-voting future of Nigeria starts now. 

Expanding Electronic Voter Registration in USA for 2016

The political system in the United States can be incredibly difficult to understand at the best of times, partly because of the way that the responsibilities are handled. Even though the federal election to decide the next President of the United States clearly has ramifications on a national level, the particulars of registering to vote and casting a ballot are not handled at the federal level. Each state has its own control over how voters cast their ballots and how those ballots are tabulated.

Although the United States of America is widely regarded as one of the most advanced countries in terms of the strength of its democracy, it is still curious to see that, when it comes to elections, it still lags behind many other nations that may otherwise be seen as less developed. In many states, voters must still register manually with a physical paper form. It's time the United States moved into the 21^st century.

As a positive, several states have moved ahead with some form of electronic voter registration and this trend has continued to pick up momentum. The pace at which electronic and even online voter registration has been adopted in the different states has steadily quickened in recent years. In 2008, only Arizona and Washington State offered online voter registration, but that group grew to some 20 states by 2014.

Looking ahead to the general election next year, more states will be reportedly adding themselves to that list. This follows the recommendation put forth by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration in January, which pushed for reducing wait times at polling places and the “continued expansion of online voter registration” for the nation's citizens.

A prime example of this is happening in the state of Ohio where a bill was introduced in February to set up an online voter registration system that could serve as a suitable replacement for the traditional paper forms. Introduced by Republican Senator Frank LaRose, Senate Bill 63 could help to “improve the accuracy of our voter records, reduce the potential for fraud and protect voter privacy, all while reducing costs to the taxpayer.”

In addition to improved accuracy and reduced costs, the introduction and implementation of an online voter registration system in Ohio could help to get more people registered to vote. In turn, this would bolster voter turnout and provide for a more representative government. Heading into 2016, a total of 27 states, plus the District of Columbia, have either implemented or passed legislation for online voter registration.

While the bill has not yet been signed into law in Ohio, it has received overwhelming support by the Ohio senate, which passed Senate Bill 63 by a vote of 31 to 1. The next step is for the bill to be debated and passed by the Ohio House of Representatives. The vote on the bill may not occur in the House until later this fall.

Contemplating even higher levels of security, the state of New Mexico is considering the introduction of biometric voter authentication as part of its voter registration and verification process. This simultaneously decreases the likelihood of fraud and increases access to the universal right to suffrage for individuals who may otherwise be challenged to produce reliable photo identification. More side-lined groups like the Hispanic and Latino community would benefit greatly from such a change.

That's still not all 50 states in the union, but significant progress continues to be made in an environment where change has not come easily. 

E-guvernare: A Case of E-Government Success

Photo: Freedigitalphotos

Our increasingly connected world has evidenced the need for governments to find new ways to come closer to their citizens, reducing red tape and making their lives easier. In this regard, Romania has become an example for the world, as it has implemented successful policies aimed at integrating technology into public life.

In 2001, communications and information technology were declared national priorities for the development of Romanian economy. As a result, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology concentrated its efforts on the creation of Information Society services and conception of laws for the regulation of personal data processing, protection of privacy in telecommunications, protection against cyber crime, regulation of electronic signatures, e-commerce, e-procurement, and e-tax. Thus, in 2003, E-Guvernare was born.

E-Guvernare is an Internet portal where citizens can perform different legal tasks in an easy way. Paying taxes, obtaining an authorization for construction, getting a driver’s license, setting up a new business, registering a vehicle, or even obtaining a new passport are processes that can be simplified with the help of E-Guvernare. All the forms necessary to perform these and many other processes are available.

According to a research paper by Popeanga Vasile and Vatuiu Teodora, E-Guvernare is “the best way of organizing public management in order to increase efficiency, transparency, accessibility and responsiveness to citizens, as well as to reduce bureaucracy and corruption.” E-Guvernare makes overall interaction with the administration “more efficient and comfortable while reducing costs for both public and private entities and increasing the public trust in the administration.”

The success of this new way of connecting governmental institutions with their citizens even led a neighboring country, Moldova, to launch a similar initiative. The website date.gov.md provides access to information and forms from all of the country’s ministries, plus news on the technological development of the Moldovan government. This way, citizens are just one click away from their administrative institutions.

Scholars are already analyzing E-Guvernare’s case in search for the possibility of spreading this example to other nations. Some researchers have even concluded from their observations that the access to online information and knowledge advances democracy. Romania’s experiment has been working well for some years now, so it shall not be long until other countries catch on and become much more accessible to their citizens through the use of technology.