Technology Gaps, Communication & New

Direction for Elections in Nigeria

Panel Discussion by Engr. Chidi Nwafor, FNSE

Director, ICT

At the Situation Room’s Stakeholders’ Forum April 05, 2016

PREAMBLE… �  The fundamental challenge of any EMB is to be able to

offer free, fair and credible elections. �  The electoral process includes the selection of

candidates, the registration of voters and the voting procedures, and the procedures leading to these activities must be said to be credible. Manual processes are known to be prone to manipulations, human interventions and fraud, hence the need to apply technology to: ◦  reduce human interference; ◦  produce credible processes; ◦  produce results from processes in a timely manner; ◦  improve the accuracy of the processes.

�  The challenges to the deployment of ICT in Nigeria electoral processes cannot be discussed without first considering the technologies that have been deployed.

INTRODUCTION �  In order to improve the credibility of elections, most

Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide have resorted to the use of technology through the phases of the electoral process;

�  Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is no exception in this feat, as it has commenced the use of technology since 2002 – OMR technology for voter capture.

�  The technologies deployed in 2015 spanned through most of the Commission’s critical processes, right from the optimization of the register of voters to the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and for the election itself - Voter Accreditation through the use of Smart Card Readers and Transparency in the Administration of Results and Collation (eTRAC).

NIGERIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND PROCESSES

�  ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM (EVS) has four components: ◦  Electronic Voter Register (EVR) ◦  Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) ◦  Electronic Voter Authentication (EVA), and ◦  Electronic Transmission of Results (ETR).

�  INEC has been able to actualize three of the four processes - excluding Electronic Voting Machine;

�  The EVR fulfills the Commission’s mandate of registration of persons eligible to vote;

�  the EVA and ETR accomplishes the function of organizing credible elections in the Country. The application of technology to other areas has been minimal, we shall not be considering this in this paper.

NIGERIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND PROCESSES …2

� Any electoral system has the following key processes:

Voter Registration

Voter Authentication Balloting Vote Collation Vote

Transmission

These processes are all encapsulated in the EVS

VOTER REGISTRATION �  Voter Register is a major challenge for any EMB in the

conduct of credible Elections. �  While election rigging can be attributed to: ◦  confusing ballot instruments ◦  ballot stuffing, counting fraud and others

�  Lack of an authentic VR provides the necessary environment for all these vices to thrive

�  A credible voter register must ensure that a person only appears once in the register, hence can only exercise his/her franchise once;

�  A voter register that is not credible can only compound the problems in the electoral process by making it difficult for the outcome of the election itself to be widely acceptable;

�  To a considerably large extent, the Commission has over the years improved the process of voter enrolment and optimization of the register of voters.

VOTER REGISTRATION …2 � Gaps: ◦  Source of truth for verifying an intending

voter – NIMC’s database is still being built; ◦ Age confirmation – How is technology

helping??? �  Expecting a proposal from one of the Commission’s

Consultants

◦ Records of Dead – No information made available on dead persons – NPoPC. How many Nigerians register births and deaths???

VOTER AUTHENTICATION

�  Process of verifying that the person that registered to vote is the same person that is at the polling station to cast his vote;

�  Takes place during the accreditation of voters on election day;

�  Voter accreditation has hitherto been manual, exposing the process to human manipulations and fraudulent practices;

�  The manual process was improved upon in 2011 with the introduction of accreditation before voting – ensuring that voting commences about the same time in all the Polling Units.

�  For the 2015 General Election however, INEC decided to apply biometric technology to optimize the process with the advent of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and the Smart Card Reader (SCR).

VOTER AUTHENTICATION PROCESS �  Accreditation process was broken down into three: ◦  Identification - physical comparison of the face of the card

holder with the image displayed on the SCR when the PVC is read; ◦  Verification (that the card is original) - being able to read

the information on the chip of the PVC presented; ◦  Authentication - comparison of the fingerprint stored on

the card with what was physically presented and scanned by the reader;

�  Once a PVC has been read and accredited by the SCR, the Voter Identification Number (VIN) is stored in the reader and it does not allow the accreditation of that VIN on that particular reader any longer.

�  The use of the PVC and SCR gave a lot of credibility to the 2015 Electoral Process, as it greatly assisted in ensuring one-man-one-vote; though not with some challenges.

Tackling Field Challenges With PVCs & SCRs �  Identification issue: ◦  A voter comes to the PU & APO is not convinced that

the holder of the card is the rightful owner: �  The APO should not allow the holder to vote

�  Verification Issue:

�  The voter is to be gently told he cannot be allowed to cast his vote.

Verification issue:

The SCR cannot read

the PVC

Fake PVC

Poorly handled – broken antenna

Tackling Field Challenges with PVCs & SCRs …2 �  Authentication

Issue: ◦  A voter has been

identified and his PVC verified, but his fingerprints fail to be authenticated: �  the owner of the PVC

should be allowed to vote with or without successful authentication.

�  If an authentication is not successful, an incident form is used to complete the accreditation process.

Successful accrd

Failed accrd

Total Accreditation

Tackling Field Challenges with PVCs & SCRs…3

�  Resetting SCRs to factory default settings: ◦  Removal of battery of a SCR sets the reader to factory

default; ◦  Deliberate action by some staff of the Commission to remove

the batteries of the SCRs (after they have been configured and prepared for the elections) to cause them to loose their configured settings; ◦  Security Access Module (SAM) cards of SCRs are also

deliberately removed to prevent the SCRs from functioning; ◦  Observations have shown that these deliberate attempts are

always concentrated at specific locations where some group of people do not want card readers to be used for the election. ◦  Manual accreditation is resulted to using the excuse of card

readers not working.

PVC & SCR Gaps - Observation �  Interesting discoveries from voter authentication

database for 2015 General Elections; �  While some States had as high as 79% successful

accreditations, some States had as low as 16%; �  Preliminary investigations have been conducted,

but some further analyses are being considered – comparing the rate of failed accreditation to the occupation of voters, areas of abode (urban dwellers seem to have higher percentage of successful accreditation), etc.

S/N STATE %

Success %

Fail 1 EKITI 50.0 50.0

2 ANAMBRA 51.5 48.5

3 RIVERS 52.9 47.1

4 ADAMAWA 54.0 46.0

5 BENUE 54.2 45.8

6 CROSS RIVER 54.8 45.2

7 DELTA 56.0 44.0

8 KOGI 59.4 40.6

9 OGUN 59.4 40.6

10 ONDO 59.7 40.3

11 ABIA 61.0 39.0

12 OSUN 63.7 36.3

13 EDO 64.6 35.4

14 OYO 64.7 35.3

15 LAGOS 78.9 21.1

S/N   STATE  %              

Success  %                      Fail  

1   KANO     15.9   84.1  

2   NASARAWA     17.9   82.1  

3   BAYELSA     21.2   78.8  

4   SOKOTO     21.9   78.1  

5   TARABA     22.0   78.0  

6   ZAMFARA     22.5   77.5  

7   BORNO     24.1   75.9  

8   KATSINA     27.3   72.7  

9   YOBE     27.4   72.6  

10   KWARA     29.6   70.4  

11   JIGAWA     31.6   68.4  

12   KEBBI     31.7   68.3  

13   AKWA  IBOM     33.9   66.1  

14   BAUCHI     36.6   63.4  

15   IMO     38.9   61.1  

PVC & SCR Gaps – Analysis (Gov/SHA Election – 2015)

Analysis of Declared & SCR Upload for Selected Gov. Elections

S/N\ STATE

DECLARED ACCREDITA- TION FIGURE

SCR ACCREDITA-TION FIGURE DIFFERENCE

% DIFFERENCE

1 Akwa Ibom

1,158,624   466,819   691,805   59.7  

2 Rivers 1,187,295   293,072   894,223   75.3  

3 Kogi 526,389   489,932   36,457   6.9  

4 Bayelsa 242,114   180,286   61,828   25.5  

PVC & SCR Gaps - Enhancement � Main challenge is failed authentication - ◦  INEC to carry out forensic check on the data

to identify those with biometric issues; ◦  Proposed plan to carry out a Voter Card

revalidation exercise that will request selected voters to come for fingerprint re-capture; ◦  INEC to collaborate with NIMC to recapture/

revalidate voters whose biometric data have issues. ◦ Additional quality checks at point of data

enrollment for both biometrics and bio data.

PVC & SCR Gaps – Enhancement…2 �  Software and Operating System (OS) issues being

looked into, especially as it relates to the resetting of dates;

�  The firmware and software to be upgraded such that settings on dates and time cannot be tampered with (manual settings should be prevented). Date settings should only be possible by connecting the readers to a network – wireless or GSM network providers;

�  Creation of unique identifications for each of the SCRs, and permanent linking of each SCR to a PU. This will make it easier to identify SCRs that have not been configured and those with data not yet uploaded;

�  Permanent solution to being able to retain configuration settings on the SCRs is being explored. Having CMOS batteries to store BIOS settings to be an improvement on new SCRs to be acquired.

VOTE COLLATION & TRANSMISSION

�  This phase of the election process handles: ◦  Data entry of PU results ◦  the collation of the results of the election and ◦  the transmission of same to a central database

�  The electronic results collation and transmission (e-Collation) system has been piloted in some bye- and rerun- elections;

�  It is a robust and well secured platform that collects data from the Polling Units (PUs) and collates the results up to the required level for any set Election;

�  The portal has a flexible dashboard with a real-time user interface, showing a graphical presentation of the current status of results collated per given time;

Screenshot from e-collation software

BALLOTING �  INEC has not been able to actualize the desire to use

Electronic Voting for the main balloting; �  In 2004, INEC embarked on studies and campaigns

for the use of EVMs for the conduct of Elections; �  Restrictions of the Electoral Laws truncated the

process; ◦  S.52(1b) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As amended) states

that “The use of electronic voting machine for the time being is prohibited”.

�  The Commission is considering solidifying and consolidating on the use of SCRs – institutionalizing the technologies; and others – like result collation and transmission;

�  However, when it starts considering eVoting, it will consider it in an efficient manner.

CONSIDERATION FOR e-VOTING �  Accuracy: A system is accurate if: ◦  It is not possible for a vote to be altered, ◦  It is not possible for a valid vote to be eliminated from the final tally; ◦  It I not possible for an invalid vote to be counted in the final tally.

�  Democracy: a system is democratic if:- ◦  It permits only eligible voters to vote; ◦  It ensures that each eligible voter can vote only once

�  Privacy: A system is private if:- ◦  Neither election authorities nor anyone else can link any ballot to the voter

who cast it; ◦  No voter can prove that he or she voted in a particular way.

�  Verifiability: ◦  A system is verifiable if anyone can independently verify that all votes have

been counted correctly. �  Convenience: ◦  A system is convenient if it allows voters cast their votes quickly, in one

session, and with minimal equipment or special skills. �  Mobility: ◦  A system is mobile if there are no restrictions (other than Logistical

ones) on the location from which a voter can cast a vote.

COMMUNICATION – Vital tool for election transparency �  Communication is central to the success of the

electoral process; �  Expanded feedback channels to/from INEC

enhanced by the establishment of INEC’s Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC); ◦  responsible for direct, real-time reception of feedback

from citizens; ◦  The ICCC was designed as a modified Situation

Room to work as a channel of continuous communication and exchange of information with the electorate and other stakeholders;

�  The centre is planned for an upgrade for better enhancement of election transparency through citizen mobile engagements.

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

�  The LAW: �  Electronic Voting - S.52(1b) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As

amended) states that “The use of electronic voting machine for the time being is prohibited”.

�  SCRs – misquote S.52(1b) ◦  The use of SCR is not Electronic Voting, voter accreditation is not

voting; ◦  The Election Petition Tribunals have had to throw out evidences

relating to the use of SCRs, and finally the Supreme Court gave a verdict. The election credibility that has accrued via the use of SCRs will be eroded if the laws are not amended.

�  Diaspora Voting - S.54 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As amended) states “No voter shall record his vote otherwise than by personally attending at the Polling unit and recording his vote in the manner prescribed by the Commission”. ◦  Personal appearance at the PU is the restriction to the

deployment of this.

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS …2 �  FUNDING: �  Technology is very capital intensive; and for an

organization that executes key functions like INEC funding should not be an issue.

�  The Commission for instance commenced a WAN project in 2010 to enable the migration of its voter registration databases from the State offices to a central database at the Headquarters, and also for the migration of data to its disaster recover sites. This was basically to ensure secured data transfer on our channels. However, the project became unsustainable as there were no funds to keep it running.

�  Also affected are other salient processes that would better have been fully automated, but we have had to apply some manual interventions at some levels.

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS ...3 �  POLITICAL CLASS: �  The Commission has mandatorily ensured that right from

the planning stage, valuable time and resources are spent to “sell” its technological plans to the Political Parties.

�  Yet, the politicians are the group of people who look for loopholes, or even create them, to make our processes non-credible.

�  Politicians induce the populace to indulge in multiple registrations either by moving from one PU to another or by registering using special registration options meant for people who are physically challenged.

�  The use of SCRs also met some brick walls in some section of the political class, there were efforts at frustrating its use – even on election day. The issues that resulted in the reverting to manual accreditation process during the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly Election of 28th March 2015 were partly funded by some politicians.

�  Rivers re-run – typical example

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS …4 �  CHANGE FACTOR: �  Nigerians, generally, find it difficult to shift from

our comfort zones; the introduction of technology to the electoral process has met with brick walls at some quarters.

�  People are used to the old ways of doing things, and all they look out for is how to beat the system. We have found cases where underaged persons are found in the register, people try to register using palm kernels for fingerprints, registration using still images, etc.

�  The old method of trying to over blot the register of voters still thrives, but INEC has always ensured that all efforts are put in place to check these vices – through our improved AFIS system.

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS …5

�  PROSECUTION OF ELECTION OFFENDERS: �  The Commission has had to hand over some

election offenders to security agencies for prosecution, but the case ends there, eg Anambra case. If offenders are allowed to go unpunished, then election offenders will keep increasing.

�  SABOTAGE: �  This is from many quarters – INEC staff,

Politicians, ad-hoc staff, contractors, etc. We just got a recent case of forged PVCs in one of the States; the cards were tested and found to be fake.

CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS …6

�  In-house “infightings”: ◦  Brick walls by INEC staff ◦ Departments hitherto handling process feel

you are taking over their jobs ◦ Within the Commission itself – interests, etc

CONCLUSION �  INEC depends heavily on the use of IT to plant

democracy on a very solid ground and build on what was achieved in the 2011 General Elections;

�  Democracy is not cheap (but it is much cheaper than the cost we paid in the past for dictatorship);

�  Use of technology in the electoral process is crucial: considering that the level of political distrust in Nigeria is very high, the use of technology to enhance electoral credibility has become indispensible.

�  the use of technology in the electoral process could be extended to other critical areas of electoral governance (as the law permits).

�  INEC’s mission is to serve as an independent and effective EMB committed to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections for sustainable democracy in Nigeria; this we are committed to achieving with ICT being a venerable tool.

Thank you for your attention