Developing a Secure and Trusted E-Voting System for Libyan Elections

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the issues and problems in the current Libyan voting system, and to develop a secure e-voting prototype system associated with the Libyan electoral system and the laws and legislation governing.   Theoretical framework: E-voting systems allow greater participation of eligible voters to cast their vote remotely or any location that the voter could be during election.   Design/methodology/approach: This study used mixed methodology. A qualitative method via interview would be used to collect qualitative data from citizens and election staff to determine functionalities and features of the proposed system. Using Semi-structured interviews with ten eligible voters, election officials. While a quantitative study conducted to evaluate users and elections of officials to determine how the systems fulfils the requirements and their expectations, to determine if the prototype proposed system offers practical solution to the Libyan voters and if the functionalities of the system fulfil the requirement gathered at the problem definition stage. The second prototype was regarded as meeting the key functional and non-functional requirement and ease of use criteria by users. After fixing the concerns found during the first prototype's evaluation in terms of the requirement criteria. The criterion for ease of use were met.   Findings: As a result, 87% of the evaluators indicated that they would adopt the system if it was introduced. Whereas 87% of the evaluators suggested that they would recommend the E-Voting system to their friends, colleagues, and Libyan Election Council.   Research, Practical & Social implications: Following the trial of the second prototype, the evaluators proposed that the Libyan E-Voting System (L-EVS) would assist them enable them to exercise their election rights.   Originality/value: Concerns and issues from previous political elections have spawned over numerous studies regarding voter confidentiality, voting security, and voting accuracy

E-Governance: Strategy for Mitigating Non-Inclusion of Citizens in Policy Making in Nigeria

The Nigerian federation that currently has 36 states structure adopted the Weberian Public Administrative system before now as an ideal way of running government, which was characterized with the traditional way of doing things without recourse to the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Today e-governance is seen as a paradigm shift from the previous way of governance. Research has shown that, the adoption and implementation of e-governance is more likely to bring about effective service delivery, mitigate corruption and ultimately enhance citizens’ participation in governmental affairs. However, it has been argued that infrastructure such as regular electricity power and access to the Internet, in addition to a society with high rate of literacy level are required to effectively implement and realize the potentials of e-governance for improved delivery of services. Due to the difficulties currently experienced, developing nations need to adequately prepare for the implementation of e-governance on the platform of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Hence, this study seeks to examine whether the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the context of Nigeria would mitigate the hitherto non-inclusion of citizens in the formulation and implementation of government policies aimed at enhanced development. To achieve the objective of the study, data were sourced and analyzed majorly by examining government websites of 20 states in the Nigerian federation to ascertain if there are venues for citizens to interact with government in the area of policy making and feedback on government actions, as a way of promoting participatory governance. The study revealed that the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the country is yet to fully take place. This is due to lack of infrastructure, low level of literacy rate and government inability to provide the necessary infrastructure for e-governance to materialize. The paper therefore, recommends among others the need for the Federal Government to involve a sound and clear policy on how to go about the adoption and implementation of egovernance through deliberate effort at increasing budgetary allocation towards infrastructural development and mass education of citizens

The Impact of e-Democracy in Political Stability of Nigeria

The history of the Nigerian electoral process has been hitherto characterized by violence stemming from disputes in election outcomes. For instance, violence erupted across some states in Northern Nigeria when results indicated that a candidate who was popular in that part of the country was losing the election leading to avoidable loss of lives. Beside, this dispute in election outcome lingers for a long time in litigation at the electoral tribunals which distracts effective governance. However, the increasing penetrating use of ICTs in Nigeria is evident in the electoral processes with consequent shift in the behavior of actors in the democratic processes, thus changing the ways Nigerians react to election outcomes. This paper examines the trend in the use ICT in the Nigerian political system and its impact on the stability of the polity. It assesses the role of ICT in recent electoral processes and compares its impact on the outcome of the process in lieu of previous experiences in the Nigeria. Furthermore, the paper also examines the challenges and risks of implementing e-Democracy in Nigeria and its relationship to the economy in the light of the socio-economic situation of the country. The paper adopted qualitative approach in data gathering and analysis. From the findings, the paper observed that e-democracy is largely dependent on the level of ICT adoption, which is still at its lowest ebb in the country. It recognizes the challenges in the provision of ICT infrastructure and argues that appropriate low-cost infrastructure applicable to the Nigerian condition can be made available to implement e-democracy and thus arouse the interest of the populace in governance, increase the number of voters, and enhance transparency, probity and accountability, and participation in governance as well as help stabilize the nascent democrac

An Analysis of the Readiness of Voters in the Western Region of Ghana for Electronic Voting

The study was conducted to find out how ready voters in the Western region are for electronic voting. It focused on electorates’ perspective and also assessed the infrastructural readiness of the Electoral Commission (EC) for e-voting. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as the base theory for the study. Using the survey’s research design, questionnaires were administered to 400 electorates in Sekondi – Takoradi and 352 of the electorates responded. An interview was also held with the staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Sekondi-Takoradi constituency to ascertain EC’s infrastructural preparedness for e-voting. The study revealed that the majority (70.5%) of the electorates were aware of e-voting through one medium or the other but only a few (10.2%) of the electorates had ever used e-voting in an election. The majority (67.3%) of the electorates perceived the usefulness variables as important characteristics of e-voting that can help mitigate the electoral irregularities in the current electoral process. The majority (72.3%) of the electorates had very high confidence in e-voting. However the response from the interviewee suggested that EC is not in the least prepared for the introduction of e-voting. Perhaps the year “2016 and beyond”. Based on the findings, the study concludes that it is feasible to implement e-voting in Ghana but for the lack of infrastructure. Keywords: Electronic (e-voting), Electoral Commission (EC), Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s), Election Management Bodies (EMBs

Studies of computer mediated communications systems : a synthesis of the findings

This report is an attempt to collect and synthesize current knowledge about computer-mediated communication systems. It focuses on computerized conferencing systems, for which most evaluational studies have been conducted, and also includes those electronic mail and office support systems for which evaluative information is available. It was made possible only through the participation of the many systems designers and evaluators listed below, who took the time to help to build a common conceptual framework and report their findings in terms of that common framework

e-Participation: Promoting Dialogue and Deliberation between Institutions and Civil Society

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasingly becoming more pervasive of peoples lives, both for individual and collective usage. Hence, it becomes tempting to develop electronic tools that can constitute alternatives to enhance citizenship, in particular tools that can be used in the context of societal debates of public policies. This report explores the conditions to deploying electronic based public participation methodologies and online ICT based participatory processes within public policy processes. It reflects on the challenges, promises and motivations of using ICT to promote dialogue and deliberation among institutions and the civil society. It consists in part of a revision of the techniques and tools commonly used in electronic public participation processes, referring to case studies where these techniques and tools were employed. Special attention was given to cases where the outcome from the public participation process supported a decision process. The conditions of deployment of e-participation processes in public policy formulation were framed within the concept of quality, specifically in the concept of ¿fitness for purpose¿. An electronic tool was designed and implemented, not only featuring dialogue components, but also collaborative ones, as response to some of the identified challenges. Based on the review of e-participation tools and the preliminary usage of the tool developed, a protocol for quality assurance of e-participation tools is offered.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Is blockchain an emerging tool able to provide assistance to transitional justice processes?

Dissertação para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Direito, na especialidade de Direito Internacional e EuropeuBlockchain technology has the capacity to change how people live, communicate with each other, acquire products, store information, and exchange data. Such technology – that is able to perform in different segments is being called a general-purpose technology, like the internet, - can be useful in transitional justice processes. The present paper intends to analyse the use of blockchain technology as a new component in transitional justice processes, understand how blockchain would behave in each transitional justice pillar, considering a state of the art situation. Subsequently, blockchain projects were mentioned, that could be used in transitional justice scenarios, such as the economic development of local communities, and the implementation of refugees’ digital identification. Lastly, the technology’s limitations were taken into consideration, leading to the conclusion that in considering implementing blockchain technology in transitional justice processes, it is crucial to ponder the local transitional justice scenario with the blockchain characteristics, in order to pursuit better results.A tecnologia blockchain tem a capacidade de mudar a forma como as pessoas vivem, se comunicam, adquirem produtos, guardam e trocam informações. O uso de tal tecnologia, capaz de atuar em múltiplos segmentos, sendo considerada uma tecnologia de propósito geral, como a internet, pode ser bem desfrutada em processos de justiça de transição. A presente dissertação tem como objetivo analisar se a tecnologia blockchain pode ser um novo componente em processos de justiça de transição, entendendo como a tecnologia atuaria, em cada pilar da justiça de transição, considerando um cenário de estado da arte. Posteriormente, foram citados alguns projetos nos quais se usa o blockchain e que poderiam ser usados em processos de justiça de transição, como desenvolvimento econômico de comunidades locais e implementação de identidades digitais para refugiados. Por fim, levou-se em consideração as limitações da tecnologia frente as suas circunstâncias atuais. Assim, antes de implementar a tecnologia blockchain em um cenário de justiça de transição, é importante ponderar todos os aspectos concretos da situação, juntamente com todas as características da tecnologia, para ter o melhor resultado