Yaw Amankwa, Editor

Stakeholders at the recently held conference on Biometric Voter Registration and E-Voting in Ghana overwhelmingly endorsed the Indian model of Electronic Voting as the model that is adequately suited to the Ghanaian terrain should Ghana decide to introduce technology into her elections.

This was made known at the just ended 2-day conference organised by the Danquah Institute, a policy think tank based in Accra. The Conference drew participants from government, political parties, the Electoral Commission, civil society organisations, media houses, local and international experts on e-voting systems, development partners and Ghanaians interested in this subject area. Participants agreed that some of the major difficulties that have affected our general elections since our return to constitutional rule in 1993, and which nearly marred the 2008 general elections have included ballot box theft, ballot box stuffing, multiple voter registration, multiple voting and the tensions that arise as result of long delays before results are declared. They resolved that measures should be put in place to tackle these inherent problems associated with the current paper-ballot voting Ghana is currently practising so as not to lead this country to the brink of violence. As Ghana has from time to time enhanced its electoral process from transparent ballot boxes in 1996, photo ID cards in 2004, party colour coded-seals in the 2008 elections, the problems highlighted above still prevail. It was unanimously acknowledged that the next natural step for Ghana in enhancing the electoral system is the “E-way” which comprised the creation of a credible voter register (biometric voter registration) and a better, safer voting system (E-Voting). Several models of electronic voting technologies were thoroughly reviewed at this conference. Some of the models included those from Venezuela, the United States of America, Brazil and the India. The electronic voting systems reviewed at the Danquah Institute conference differed widely in terms of technology and implementation. Some involved paper audit trails, while others did not. Others have introduced electronic voting concurrently with a paper-based system, while others have chosen to phase in electronic voting without this option. Again, different systems treat differently the ability of voters to spoil their vote or to cast blank ballots or the penchant of politicians and their operatives to rig elections.

Brazil, the largest nation in South America, has been at the comparative forefront of electronic voting worldwide. Currently, all votes are cast by electronic voting machines in Brazil. The Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court authorised the use of Electronic voting technology in the 1996 Brazilian municipal elections. This use was further extended in 1998 when over 60 million voters (57% of the electorate) used electronic voting. By 2000, the Brazilian government had converted to fully electronic voting and deployed over 400,000 kiosk-style machines in elections that year. At the Accra conference, two models, the Indian and Brazilian types, got the thumbs up, with the Indian model getting the vote as best suited for Ghana's environment.

India was favoured because the model from the world's largest democracy answered the usual questions raised against the introduction of e-voting in Ghana, notably, high computer illiteracy rates, lack of electricity and internet infrastructure in much of rural Ghana.

It was argued at the conference that India has an illiteracy rate more than 10 times the population of Ghana; Indian has more rural areas which are neither fed by electricity or internet facilities. The Indian EVMs operate on 6 volt alkaline batteries and are not connected directly to a centre point by internet. Also the votes from the machine can be counted right there at the polling station, as is the case here in Ghana. The Brazilian electronic voting technology, like the Indian model, is unusual in that the voting machine itself tallies the votes once voting finishes, with the Brazilian model, producing both digital and printed reports of the number of votes given to each candidate. Concerns regarding the accuracy of the self-auditing systems caused the country's legislature to mandate a retrofit of 3% (some 12,000 machines) to produce a paper ballot that the voter could peruse and deposit in a box for recount. These paper-trail machines were successfully used during the October 6, 2002 election. Following that demonstration of the reliability of the machines, use of the paper trail was abandoned for subsequent elections.

In the October 2000 elections, 110 million voters, including indigenous reserve residents, used 354,000 ballot boxes for municipal elections nationally in Brazil. In October 6, 2002, 406,000 electronic voting machines were used exclusively for the first time to register 115 million voters’ preferences on 18,882 candidates for 1655 posts in all government levels. In October 27, 2002, for the second round of voting for president, the same technology and logistics were applied as from the first round. India’s first-ever election using electronic voting took place from April 20 through May 10, 2004. Following legal approval in 1989 to allow the use of EVMs, they have been used in many state elections but never in an entire general election until 2004. In the 1999 parliamentary poll, the machines, prepared by Electronics Corp of India and Bharat Electronics, were used in 45 constituencies. EVMs were also used on an experimental basis in five state elections in November 2003. India voted in 2009, in what was described as the biggest democracy in the world. India deployed 1,368,430 EVMs across the country. 714 million registered voters took part in this exercise and it only took a mere 4 hours to declare the results from 7 million votes compared to the traditional system of 4-days to count the same amount of votes. Comparing this to Ghana it should take no more than 8 hours for the President-elect to be known, considering the number of registered voters we have in the country.

In previous manual elections in India, a nationwide ballot could consume around 8,000 tonnes of paper and 400,000 phials of indelible ink and require some 2.5 million strongboxes to store them under heavy security until the votes were counted. In the past, it took up to four days to count the votes, with hired personnel spending day and night in secured areas manually counting each ballot. Vulnerable as the procedure was to human error, a recount was frequent. EVMs conduct up to “FOUR” or “MORE” simultaneous polls to suit the electoral systems of other countries. In Ghana’s case, the presidential and parliamentary elections are the only simultaneous elections held at the same time. The Electronic Voting Machine of India consists of two units; the Control Unit which is operated by the presiding officer and the Ballot unit with which the voter casts his/her vote and it runs on a 6-Volt alkaline battery that has a life span of 12 hours. Thus the assertion that Ghana cannot go E-Voting because some communities are not connected to the national electricity grid is taken care off.

In India, the voter is identified from the voters list and records his presence by a signature or thumb impression. The Presiding Officer presses the “Ballot” button on the Control Unit of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) permitting one vote. The voter then proceeds to the polling cubicle and after perusing the ballot paper on the Ballot Unit, presses the key against the candidate of his choice.

A red lamp glows indicating to the voter that his vote has been cast in favour of the candidate of his/her choice. The casting of the vote results in a beep in the Control Unit indicating to the Presiding Officer that a vote has been cast. He then proceeds to release another vote by pressing the “Ballot” button and the process continues. After voting has closed, the “Close button” on the control unit is depressed after which no more votes can be recorded. The machines are then transported for collation to a central collation point as is the case with India. In Ghana’s case results will be declared at the polling station. The conference also called for the Electoral Commission to start preparations for a pilot scheme, arguing that every democracy that has gone e-voting begins with a pilot trial. A typical example is Argentina in 2003, which piloted an electronic voting system in Buenos Aires Province, the most populated province in Argentina. Citizens were able to try the electronic systems piloted in 11 towns in a mock ballot with a slate composed of Argentinean historical figures. The question is whether Ghana may have the financial luxury of undertaking such a large scale mock exercise.

The Argentine system is based on machines already used in Brazil. The electronic voting machines (EVMs) resemble ATMs. Each citizen shows identity documentation at the voting place, and the registrar enters the voter’s identity number at a keyboard with a display. If it appears OK on the display, the person is approved to vote and goes behind a partition where the EVM is located.

The screen of the EVM shows the first office that the voter will vote for (e.g. Governor, in 2003) and all the political parties that presented candidates, each paired with a number. The voter chooses his or her favourite by punching a key with the number of the chosen party. The next screen shows the name and photo of the chosen candidate. To confirm the selection, the voter punches a green key. If the voter wants to change the selection, he or she punches a red key. Once the selection has been made, the voter pushes a white key and then the green key to confirm. The system also permits voters to cast “blank” votes, which in Argentina are counted in order to calculate the percentage of votes obtained by each party. After completing a vote for a particular office, another screen appears with the following office to choose and continues until the ballot is completed. At this point the EVM disables, preventing a second vote. Political party representatives at the conference were also urged to pilot the Indian model of e-voting so as to prove this system can work without any major hitches. Speaking to The Statesman after the conference, the chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Peter Mac Manu intimated that his party was considering the use of EVMs for voting in its upcoming National Delegates Conference to elect new national officers to be held in Kumasi on the 27th of February 2010. Over 4,000 delegates will elect new national officers and this will be done on constituency basis. “This will be done to show all skeptics that this system works and will erase the negative tendencies associated with our current system where invalid votes, the tensions that characterize the long period between when voting ends and the declaration of results among others have threatened our democratic experiment,” he said. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mr. Stephen Ntim, Felix Owusu Agyapong, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey and Sammy Crabbe are the candidates who have formally announced their intention of contesting for the position of Chairman of the NPP. Fred Oware, the owner of Choice FM, outgoing Women's Organiser Rita Asobayire, Amidu Kaleem, Sophia Horner-Sam, former Deputy Western Regional Minister, Collins Boateng are all contesting for the 1st Vice Chair slot of the party. Capt. Rtd. Nkrabeah Effah Darteh, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, Obeng Busia and Nana Ohene Ntow, the incumbent General Secretary, are the candidates vying for the position of General Secretary. Alhaji Moctar Bamba, Isaac Edumadze, and the current youth organiser of the party John Boadu are running for the position of National Organiser. Christine Churcher and Otiko Djabah are contestants for the position of National Women’s organiser of the NPP. Anthony Abayifa Karbo, Stephen Amoah, Isaac Ampong and Pius Enam Hadzide are the candidates vying for the position of National Youth Organiser. Esther Ofori is running for Treasurer, uncontested. The other contestant, Osei Ameyaw, former Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry.