The Electoral Commission is expected to start a public conversation about the prospect of electronic voting, or e-voting, during South African elections.
To launch the public debate and discussion on the subject, the commission will host a three-day e-voting conference in Cape Town from 10-12 March 2024.
This conference will serve as a pivotal platform for initiating a public conversation about the possibility of introducing electronic voting sometime in the future.
The conference is based on research commissioned by the Commission and undertaken by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
The research study produced a discussion document which navigates all crucial aspects related to electronic voting and implications for South Africa. The discussion document will be launched at the conference.
The key components of the discussion documents include the following:
• A country review of electronic voting including those countries currently using poll-site technologies as well as those who use internet voting. This includes countries that introduced electronic voting but subsequently abandoned it.
• Key insights from the legislative review indicate that in the event electronic voting is adopted then there would a necessity for legislative amendments.
• Lessons from two roundtables, which were conducted with academics and representatives of blind persons.
• Lessons from key informant interviews that were conducted with civil society organisations and election management bodies.
• Views which were solicited through a public opinion survey.
• An overall outline of the findings of the studies conducted.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said the conference will serve as a significant opportunity for South Africans to shape the future of voting in the digital world.
“It is part of the statutory purview of the commission to conduct research with a view to improving the quality of elections. We must investigate new approaches to improve the electoral process, voter experience, accessibility and enable cost savings,” Mamabolo said.
“Some of the research findings indicate that there is no common understanding of what e-voting entails. This conference aims not only to reflect on possibilities for implementing e-voting but also to drive common understanding and knowledge of the subject among South Africans.
“We encourage further conversations and lively debates among South Africans from all walks of life as we have seen happening in some social media platforms recently,” he said.
The conference will bring together political parties, members of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, corporates in the ICT sphere, government officials, research and development institutions.
Representatives of some countries which have implemented electronic voting are also confirmed for participation in this conference. This includes Estonia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia.
Telecommunications and network connectivity service providers will share current and future developments in the digital ecosystem space.
Furthermore, the conference will include an expo where technology companies will display and demonstrate some of the available e-voting technologies and provide participants with a sense of how these technologies can be intuitively operated.
After the launch of the discussion document at the conference, it will be posted on the Electoral Commission digital platforms including on the website.
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