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= Deployment of E-Voting in South Africa =

In the Report on e-voting, in the seminar that was held in Cape Town South Africa, date 12 and 12th March 2013

South Africa’s former President Kgalema Motlanthe, challenged the country’s IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) to explore the possibility of e-voting due to the aftermath of the 2009 national and provincial elections, where the country saw an increase in the number of voting stations from 14 650 in 1999 to 19 726, hence South Africa is now looking to move into electronic voting systems since there is also evidence that e-voting reduces the costs of elections – paper printing and workforce costs – as these have been developed and are developing for decades with the aim of allowing an easier participation of the citizens in the decision-making process, but without the physical and human resources needed in a traditional voting.

Countries like Mexico, Turkey and Nigeria who did surveys on the voters’ perception of security and other trust factors got an overall result that automated elections mean that people can trust the results because it allows for a process that is auditable, transparent and secure, since it helps reduce human error. Where for other largely populated countries like Brazil, India and the Philippines, electronic voting and electronic counting means that people can get official election results within hours, instead of weeks.

Alomari and Figueroa In a nut shell, the main feature of democracy is the right or chance to vote, express an opinion, and/or participate in a decision – voting which gives freedom to choose the best leader for the country, said (Osho et al., 2015). This alone gives opportunity to the people to choose a leader and express their point of view. This proposal is to ensure that this expectation is met with the deployment of e-voting system.

Electronic voting in South Africa
Thanks to the Internet, voters can cast their ballots over the electronic voting systems conveniently and efficiently without going to the polling stations. E-voting is a new technology has been implemented by developed countries; most of the research has embraced this technology within this context. Therefore, there is a necessity to explore the implementation and adoption of this technology in developing countries such as South Africa. Although the e-voting system has not yet been implemented in South Africa, researchers such as myself are attempted to study e-voting deployment opportunities in South Africa.

In the European election one of the major benefits of the e-voting system was the economic stability it brought to the country as a result of credible election process, as in their past election fraud had led to a lack of trust in government and hence to economic instability.

Not only is e-voting great with the turn-around-time on producing results but it also provides a greater auditable auditing process of the election results where necessary. As stated by Sedky & Hamed that sometimes electronic have and will produce errors in the election's result due to problems with hardware and/or software, or procedures. Auditing has such benefits in revealing when recounts are necessary to verify election outcomes, finding errors whether accidental or intentional, deterring fraud and promoting public confidence in elections.

Main objectives to be considered when thinking e-voting in South Africa

 * To determine factors needed for the deployment of e-voting in South Africa
 * To identify the measures taken when deploying e-voting in South Africa
 * To analyze the influence of the identified factors needed to deploy e-voting in South Africa

Generic types of e-Voting

 * Punch-card voting systems
 * Optical scan (voting) systems
 * Direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines
 * Voter-verified paper audit trail
 * Internet voting
 * New Voting Technology (NVT)

E-Voting in Nigeria
Professor Osho did a research which intended to address the concerns about data security, verifiability and certification and cost; the basic factors to be considered when deploying e-Voting. He created a conceptual framework which combined 3 theories to build 1 conceptual framework through the 5 constructs – in assisting to arrive to the aiming of this research. Thus, the research papers identified that there is a need to understand the security and cost concerns.

The 3 theoretical frameworks being used in this research paper to create 1 conceptual framework will help complete this study. Namely they are:


 * 1) Process Visualization Theory,     for processes that have relied on physical interaction between people, and     between people and objects are being migrated to virtual environments in     which physical interaction is not available. And the constructs needed for     it are Representation and Monitoring Capacity to produce a Synchronism Requirements in the Process.
 * 2) Portfolio  Theory: The IT projects portfolios are formed according to the     organization’s strategic objectives, the risks, project costs, the impact     on the company’s success factors and resource use. And the construct     needed for it the Cost construct.
 * 3) Contingency Theory: uses IT, publication of information     can be controlled and relevant information can be shared with relevant     access controlled parties. This technique uses “role based security” system     which allows all the benefits of IT while still maintaining     confidentiality. And the constructs needed for it are Data management     and Security.