The Minister for Information and Communication Samuel Poghisio is urging more Kenyans to get knowledge on information and technology in order to meet the goals of vision 2030.
He was speaking at the close of the elections technology exhibition held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi on Friday, 23rd September. His speech was read on his behalf by a representative from his ministry. The two-day exhibition, running under the theme, ‘Intergrating Appropriate Technology in the Electoral Process’, was organized by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission. Its aim was to expose voters and other stakeholders to current election technology and to accord them an opportunity to familiarize themselves and interrogate the available technology.
The exhibition brought more than 40 local and foreign election technology firms offering different technology that can be used in any electoral process. It also brought 6 electoral management bodies from the wider East African region. Other participants in the exhibition were political parties, which have a bigger stake in elections, development partners, professionals in electoral technology and ICT and telecommunication providers.
The closing ceremony was graced by the Centre for Multiparty Democracy Executive Officer, Justin Muturi. Others who were present were the Chairman of the Commission, Hassan Isaack, the CEO, James Oswago and other commissioners.The IIEC organized the exhibition, fulfilling one of its mandate which is the development of a modern system for collection, collation, transmission and tallying of electoral data.
Apart from the voting technology that was on display, some of the exhibitors displayed voting materials like transparent voting boxes with their seals. They also displayed cameras, scanners, photocopiers, automated tally forms, water sealed carrying cases, and long-life batteries that can be used in places where there is no electricity.
One of the reforms that the IIEC is well known for is the use of technology in the management of election. The electronic voter registration system (EVR) and the electronic vote transmission system (EVT) are epic technological developments by the Commission that have changed the way elections are carried out in Kenya. Electronic voter registration technology was successfully used in 18 out of the 210 constituencies in the country, while electronic vote transmission has been used successfully in 9 out of the 11 parliamentary by-elections undertaken by the Commission so far.
The use of these technologies has seen significant improvement in the management of elections in the country. It has reduced the chances of double or triple voter registration, and also helped in the faster transmission of election results. Unlike in previous years when it took days before the results of an election could be known, using the electronic vote transmission system has seen results of by-elections being known between 5 and 8 hours after the official close of voting as stipulated by law. The use of technology also greatly contributed to the successful conducting of the Referendum on the new constitution by the electoral body that was held in August last year.
These advances have helped to restore confidence in elections and the electoral process that had been eroded over the years, due to electoral malpractices that were the norm in previous elections. With the development of these technologies, it is not only the electoral Commission that can use the technology.
Other bodies and organizations that periodically hold elections can also employ the use of these technologies, which can be customised to meet the needs of specific groups. Sports federations, cooperative societies, churches and other local organizations can take advantage of election technology to reduce cases of fraud while electing their officials.
However, it is necessary to point out that electronic registration is not electronic voting. Electronic registration is the capturing of voters’ details so as to create an electronic poll book. This replaced the manual voters roll that was used by the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya. Electronic vote transmission of results is concerned with the speed of transmission of results from the polling station during elections.
The IIEC has used laptop computers and mobile phones to relay results instantaneously and simultaneously to the constituency and national tallying centre where it the information is displayed in real time on big screen. Electronic voting on the other hand, has not yet been tried in Kenya. It is the process which allows for voting to using machines instead of the traditional ballot papers. The electronic voter registration, which was piloted in 18 constituencies (involving about 1.5 m voters), entails capturing the voter’s biometric features (facial and fingers) during the registration process.
Speaking earlier on the Power Breakfast Show on Friday on Citizen Television, the IIEC CEO James Oswago said that it may take a while before Kenyans in the Diaspora participate in local elections because of the logistical challenges that will arise and for which there is still no legislation to deal with.One of this is the fact that not all Kenyans in the Diaspora live close to the embassies where the elections may take place, and not all may have access to technology to enable them to vote.
At the same time, the Kenyans living abroad come from different constituencies where they may want to vote and this may pose challenges in printing of ballot papers. An alternative may be to allow them only to participate in the presidential elections since it may be a nightmare organizing for them to participate in electing the 6 representatives as envisaged in the new constitution.
All in all, the benefits of using technology are that it is fast and improves efficiency, it deters multiple registration and multiple voting, and it reduces errors likely to be committed due to human lapses. The challenges that come with technology are that the know-how among likely users may be lacking, the costs of the technology are prohibitive, and the security is not guaranteed.
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