1. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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 Ayo Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria A Paper Presented @ the eNigeria 2015 Summit Organized by NITDA, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

2. 2 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Outline 1.Appreciation 2.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

3. 3 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Outline Cont’d 4.Global Best Practices 5.The African Experience 6.Challenges of Adoption 7.ICT Diffusion 8.Recommendations 9.Conclusion

4. 4 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

5. 5 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

6. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Introduction

7. 7 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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).

8. 8 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

9. 9 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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:

10. 10 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d eGovernment is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to run or carry out the business of the Government of a Country.

11. 11 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d The object of eGovernance is to provide a SMARRT Government. The Acronym SMARRT refers to Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, Responsible and Transparent Government.

12. 12 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d Ayo (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.

13. 13 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d G2C (eDemocracy) G2BG2G Figure 2: eGovernment Models Relationship

14. 14 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d I will be dwelling on G2C  G2C applications  Information Dissemination ‒ Static/ dynamic web pages; documents ‒ Online data  Citizen Services provision ‒ Licenses, Government certificates, Taxes, Building, Permits  Direct democracy ‒ Communications with officials

15. 15 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Introduction Cont’d e-Democracy tools include:  eParticipation (Chat room/Discussion forum)  ePanel  ePetition  ePolling  eConsultation  eVoting  Virtual Communities, etc.

16. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Digital Electoral Processes

17. 17 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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)

18. 18 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d The motivation for digital electoral processes include:  Reduced common mistakes  Immediate feedback on votes  Elimination of multiple voting  Convenience of Voting  Elimination of paper wastage

19. 19 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d  Speedy processing of results  Backup of votes for audit trail  Enhanced confidentiality, security and trust  Reduced chances of bribery and intimidation

20. 20 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d eRegistration  Voters 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.

21. 21 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Process Cont’d eRegistration

22. 22 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Processes Cont’d 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).

23. 23 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Process Cont’d eVerification

24. 24 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Process Cont’d eVoting (e/i/mVoting) This entails casting of votes via eBallot. eBallot reduces the chances of multiple voting arising from multiple thumb-printing.

25. 25 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Process Cont’d eTallying This entails implementing an algorithmic scheme that ensures eCounting of votes (eBallots) for respective candidates.

26. 26 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Digital Electoral Process Cont’d 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.”

27. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Global Best Practices

28. 28 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Countries with eVoting Projects CountryType of SystemDate BelgiumPolling place eVotingFirst trial in 1991 BrazilPolling place eVotingFirst tested in 1996 GermanyRemote eVotingFirst tested in 1999 UKPolling place eVoting, Remote eVotingFirst in 2000 CanadaRemote eVoting (Internet and Telephone)First in 2003 FrancePolling place eVoting, Remote eVotingFirst in 2003 IndiaPolling place eVotingFirst in 2004 EstoniaRemote eVotingFirst in 2004 PortugalPolling place eVotingFirst in 2004 The NetherlandsPolling place eVoting, Remote eVotingFirst in 2004

29. World Map of eVoting  Colour scheme: Grey: no e-voting Yellow: discussion and/or voting technology pilots Orange: Discussion, concrete plans for Internet voting Dark 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

30. 30 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

31. 31 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Lessons from Countries Cont’d 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.

32. 32 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Lessons from Countries Cont’d 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).

33. 33 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Lessons from Countries Cont’d 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).

34. 34 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Lessons from Countries Cont’d 2.US Some of the issues include:  Over-voting;  Broadcast storm during transmission;  Equipment malfunction;  Poorly implemented security;  Election rigging;

35. 35 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Lessons from Countries Cont’d 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.

36. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders The African Experience

37. 37 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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):

38. 38 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng eElection in Kenya  The biometric voter registration (BVR);  Voter identification (EVID); and  Vote transmission (RTS).

39. 39 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

40. 40 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

41. 41 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

42. 42 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

43. 43 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

44. 44 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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).

45. 45 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

46. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Challenges of Adoption

47. 47 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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

48. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders ICT Diffusion

49. 49 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng ICT Subscribers statistics/ Rural ICT infrastructure S/N Services 1. 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 Penetration6.1%(2010) 6. PC Penetration (Number of PCs per 100)4.7 (2010) 7. Computers Assembled in Nigeria<500,000 8. Number of registered ICT companies350 9. Broadcasting stations nationwide308 S/NServices 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 Penetration6.1%(2010) 6.Fixed Broadband Penetration0.01% (2014) 7.PC Penetration (Number of PCs per 100)7.6 (2010) 8.Number of registered ICT companies6,809 (2015) 9.Broadcasting stations nationwide308 10.Percentage Contribution of Telecoms Industry to GDP 8.5% (2015) Source: International Telecommunication Union, Nigeria Communication Commission

50. 50 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng ICT Subscribers statistics: Comparing Some Selected Countries S/NCountriesInternet Penetration (%) Mobile Penetration (%) Broadband Penetration (Per 100) Personal Computers 1.Kenya59.8 (2010) 0.19 (2014)9.1 (2010) 2.Ghana47.7 (2010) 0.27 (2014)11.0 (2012) 3.Rwanda23.48 (2010)40.3 (2010)0.11 (2014)2.0 (2011) 4.Nigeria42.68 (2014)107.61 (2015)0.01 (2014)7.6 (2010) Source: International Telecommunication Union

51. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Recommendations

52. 52 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

53. 53 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Recommendations Cont’d  Integrated voting system comprising:  Polling Station e-Voting Machine (EVM);  Wired Internet (iVoting); and  Mobile Internet (mVoting).

54. 54 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

55. 55 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Recommendations cont’d  Early publicity of digital election process to acquaint the public with the processes and procedures.  Further infrastructural development.

56. www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Raising a new Generation of Leaders Conclusion

57. 57 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

58. 58 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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).

59. 59 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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.

60. 60 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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).

61. 61 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng 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!

62. 62 www.covenantuniversity.edu.ng Thank you for your attention!