Remote Electronic-Voting, The Answer To Covid Elections?
The year 2020 has brought about various unexpected turns of events in the lives of many including the different facets of the world’s economy, business, education, religion, entertainment, and the like.
Governance has been no exception to experiencing these changing phases and in no time most countries across the various continents in the world will be faced with how to ensure citizens in the country do not lose their rights to vote in this period.
Citizens are worried, concerned, and keep asking questions on how best elections can take place during the pandemic.
- Will all citizens of a country cast ballots safely during COVID19?
- What are the measures put in place to ensure that voters do not have to choose between their health, safety, and right to vote?
- With protocols put in place by the World Health Organization to ensure safety during the pandemic; what are the best means to enable elections in countries?
- Is Electronic-voting the best tool and solution to ensure that voting during the pandemic goes off smoothly?
These and many more are some of the questions citizens of countries keep asking.
However, in this article, we will have a look at what Electronic-Voting means, its implementation(that is how a person engages in the use of electronic voting), pros and cons associated with electronic-voting, and finally, find out if it is the answer to elections during the COVID19 pandemic.
What is Electronic-Voting?
Electronic-Voting isn’t entirely a new concept to most citizens who have reached voting age. It is a form of voting that employs the use of electronic machines and modern technologies to aid the casting and counting of votes.
Generally, every election process must undergo four basic election procedures.
- The ballot composition: This is the first stage where a voter makes a choice.
- The ballot casting: Casting a ballot in order words to submit a ballot is the second stage of the election process.
- The ballot recording: At this stage, the system records every submitted ballot.
- The ballot tabulation: This is the fourth and final stage where all votes are counted.
Irrespective of this, It is worth noting that out of these four basic steps; ballot casting, ballot recording, and ballot tabulation are processes that are usually performed in voting systems and are not precisely considered as electronic-voting. As such, before voting is termed as electronic, it must have gone through all the four basic election procedures.
Types of Electronic-Voting Systems And How It Works.
In a nutshell, there are two types of technologies for electronic-voting and they are
- I-Voting and
- E-Voting
I-Voting also identified as Online-Voting or Remote Electronic-Voting is a kind of voting where voters from different locations cast their votes to election authorities using electronic devices that are connected to the internet.
E-Voting, on the other hand, refers to an election process that occurs without the use of the internet. This system of voting engages the use of electronic machines designed solely to perform all election procedures without dependence on the internet. These machines are known as special purpose machines.
Additionally, unlike the Remote Electronic-Voting system; E-Voting requires the presence of voters at the various polling stations. Thus, posing as a threat to the protocols put in place to help curb the pandemic.
Remote Electronic-Voting
In this article, we sort to narrow down our scope to Remote-Electronic Voting which is also noted as I-Voting or Online-Voting. By far, due to its description and the nature of how it is deployed, it turns out to be the first option on the list of many countries to ensure a smooth-running process for elections during the pandemic.
This notwithstanding, remote electronic-voting is characterized by both advantages and flaws.
Pros And Cons Of Online-Voting
Given the fast pace with which technology has developed over the years, coupled with the sudden emergence of the COVID19 pandemic; Undoubtedly, Online-Voting has become one of the greatest options to be considered for most presidential elections in various countries.
As we continue, let us take a look at some of the outlined pros and cons Remote-Electronic-Voting or Online-Voting presents to all.
Pros:
- This system presents to voters a more convenient, easy, and fast way of voting.
- It also eliminates the need for transportation.
- Reduces the possibility of workers and students missing out on work and school activities respectively.
- And ultimately, it puts an end to the confusion and long queues at polling stations.
Cons:
- Getting into contact with viruses on the internet is inevitable thus, poses a threat to the security and safety of elections.
- Election results can be tampered with, and also without proper monitoring of the election procedures, people can be coaxed into voting for persons they did not intend to vote for.
- Adopting the remote system of voting also makes it difficult to prove the identity of persons casting their votes.
On the whole, Presidential Elections in every country calls for a lot of measures, scrutiny, and excellent execution of procedures to ensure a free and fair election. Putting this into close consideration and also weighing the pros and cons of Remote Electronic-Voting, authorities all over the world are faced with the toughest decision to quit general elections or proceed amidst the uncertainties.
Nonetheless, all electronic voting systems are not completely secured, hence giving more room for voters’ opinions and concerns.
Is Remote Electronic-Voting truly the answer to Covid Elections?
Written By Emmanuella Shika Tetteh.