Monday, 11 March 2013, sees the start of a two-day seminar on electronic voting (e-voting) and counting, the first of its kind to be convened in South Africa under the auspices of the Electoral Commission.
“At present, the Electoral Commission has not adopted a formal position on e-voting. The Commission is of the view that a thorough examination of the cross-national experience is necessary to adopt an informed position on the subject,” says Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.
“All the advantages, disadvantages, costs and benefits to e-voting have to be taken into consideration before making a decision on e-voting. While we, as South Africans, need to be cognisant of the global experience of e-voting, ultimately a decision on whether to adopt e-voting will need to be underpinned by, and be sensitive to, the South African context – informed by our demographics, political culture, socioeconomic environment, financial capacity, institutional and infrastructural capabilities,” she continues.
The President of the Republic of South Africa challenged the Electoral Commission to examine the concept of electronic voting technologies at the announcement of the national and provincial election results in 2009.
Subsequently, the Commission commissioned research into the international experience of e-voting. This research will be presented at the seminar, which is to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Moreover, the seminar will examine the cross-national experience of e-voting technologies by way of country case studies and highlighting key lessons learnt.
Cases have been selected from developing world democracies with considerable experience of e-voting (India and Brazil), through to a relatively recent convert to e-voting (Philippines), as well as a country that abandoned e-voting before implementing the technology (Ireland).
The seminar will also afford key stakeholders the opportunity to discuss their views on e-voting.
“One of the strategic objectives of the Commission is to ensure that the organisation remains a pre-eminent election management body that seeks continuous improvement and innovation through the use of technology. Furthermore, the Commission aims to strengthen electoral democracy in South Africa, and position itself as a thought leader in electoral democracy. This seminar on e-voting and counting technologies will help us achieve these objectives,” concludes Tlakula.
E-Voting Seminar speakers will include:
- Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson: Electoral Commission – Opening Address
- Mr Surendra Thakur, Durban University of Technology, South Africa – Overview of e-voting: cross-national experience
- Dr Margaret McGaley, Department of Computer Science, NUI Maynooth, Ireland, and spokesperson, Irish Citizens for Trustworthy e-Voting – Country case study: Ireland
- Shri VS Sampath, Chief Election Commissioner of India – Country case study: India
- Ms Beverly Thakur, Head of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Philippines – Country case study: Philippines
- Judge Paulo Tamburini, Member of Brazilian National Council of Justice & Member of the Electoral Commission – Country case study: Brazil
- Mr Peter Wolf, International IDEA, lead author of Introducing E-Voting: essential considerations – Key lessons from the international experience of e-voting
- Mr Troy Hector, Acting Managing Executive: Government Business Services, Telkom Business – ICT & telecoms infrastructure required to support e-voting & counting
ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Centurion
10 March 2013
To find out more about the seminar and the Electoral Commission’s research on e-voting, please contact: