Paper Ballots with Digital Transparency: Kenya's Pioneering Election

Autor: Crawford, Andrew
Přispěvatelé: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) - Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien, Institut für Afrika-Studien
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Politikwissenschaft
Political science
politische Willensbildung
politische Soziologie
politische Kultur
Political Process
Elections
Political Sociology
Political Culture
Afrika südlich der Sahara
Ostafrika
Kenia
Staat
politische Partizipation
Wahl
Abstimmung
Informationstechnologie
Kommunikationstechnologie
Datenaustausch
Wirkung
Auswirkung
Wahlsystem
Wahlergebnis
Transparenz
politischer Prozess
politisch-administratives System
Staatsoberhaupt
Kandidatenaufstellung
Opposition
Africa South of the Sahara
East Africa
Kenya
national state
political participation
election
voting
information technology
communication technology
data exchange
effect
impact
electoral system
election result
transparency
political lawsuit
political administrative system
head of state
nomination of candidates
opposition
10500
Zdroj: 7, GIGA Focus Afrika, 8
Druh dokumentu: Arbeitspapier<br />working paper
ISSN: 1862-3603
DOI: 10.57671/gfaf-22072
Popis: In 2022, Kenyan electoral authorities took the radical decision to digitally publish handwritten result forms from over 46,000 polling stations, allowing any Kenyan with an Internet connection to tabulate results. Unlike Brazil and the United States, they avoided electronic voting machines but opted for paper ballots alongside digital transparency. This combination may have contributed to the notably peaceful election seen. Kenya is a digital leader in Africa and a pioneer of digital technology in finance. But previous elections have suffered from a lack of trust in the electoral process, leading to violent unrest and the nullification of results by the Supreme Court of Kenya. In 2022, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya (IEBC) leveraged widespread digital connectivity for voting processes, including the release of raw local tallies soon after voting closed. Access to such results led to initial confusion during tallying by media outlets but the results survived a challenge by the losing party in the Supreme Court. A consortium of civil society organisations, led by startup Ushahidi, simultaneously collected and responded to crowdsourced data and queries from partners and the public, tagging misinformation and violent threats plus escalating inflammatory material for action by authorities. There was minimal violence before and after the election. Despite post-result infighting between IEBC commissioners, the Supreme Court challenge, and the extremely expensive nature of the process, the use of digital transparency provides a viable model for other digitally connected democracies in Africa. Electoral integrity is essential for a functioning democracy. Paper voting can be combined with digital technology to facilitate voter identification, transmission of results, and real-time publication thereof. Crowdsourced on-the-ground reports can also foster accountability and combat misinformation. Such electoral technology in Africa is in its infancy and should be supported with technical skills and funding to improve its speed, security, reliability, and functionality.
Databáze: SSOAR – Social Science Open Access Repository
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