A Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has advised election administrators to make haste slowly in the introduction of new technology into election processes.
He advised them to first consolidate gains with ones already in use before deploying new ones which must be well-suited for the needs and demography in order to avoid bigger challenges.
Delivering the keynote address at a roundtable at the University of Ghana, yesterday, he said much as technology aided elections, it was advisable to have a tech-assisted election than a tech-driven one.
The discussion organised by the Department of Political Science to mark its 60th anniversary, was on the theme “Election technology and the future of election in Ghana.”
Explaining his caution against tech-driven elections, Dr Afari-Gyan said maintenance and sustainability were costly as well as finding the perfect one to fix a particular need was not readily available.
“The physical environment in which it would be used should be considered. Will all voters be able to use it? These need customised technology which is not readily available. So do not rush it,” he said.
He said the technology should be tested in real time situation before deployment, and should be done a year more to an election, to give ample time to address challenges.
For him, the core technology needed were ones used for accurate capture of voter registration, verification, and tabulation of votes and sending same to EC head office in real time.
He advised against the setting up of many collation centres and proposed use of technology there because such centres were prime targets for electoral manipulation.
On social media, he said despite its numerous benefits to the EC, political parties/ candidates and voters with respect to information technology, it had become a platform for hate speech and misinformation and one must be careful in its use.
Since technology could be used for manipulation, Dr Afari-Gyan advised
that quality of human resource of election bodies should be improved by instilling in them high sense of integrity aside from training them to minimise mistakes.
Aside from indicating specific steps in tabulation of votes, he said errors must be traced and persons who willfully commit mistakes should be sanctioned to serve as deterrent.
The Director of Election Services of the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, recounted how technology has been used over the years to improve elections, noting that efforts were still being made to make the system more robust, for instance through the use of Ghana card as sole identification for registration to weed out minors and foreigners.
A former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Peter Mac Manu and a former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, agreed with Dr Afari-Gyan on the need to deploy suitable technology for elections.
However they disagreed on the use of Ghana Card as sole identification for registration; while Mr Manu supported the EC, Dr Otokunor kicked against it explaining that the Ghana Card system relied on guarantor system.
Present at the event were representatives from other political parties and civil society as well as management, lecturers and students of the university.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
