The recent amendments to the Electoral Act Amendment 2014 shifted the “Burden of Proof at Election Tribunal, as the responsibility of Contestants” with these new amendments, the burden of proving irregularities during an election has been lifted off INEC. Even though, legal practitioners believes that the responsibility of Burden of Proof shall be vested on the electoral commission because, having conducted the election; they should be saddled with the responsibility of proofing that it was credible.
Nigerian politics is seemingly synonymous with political fraud and electoral violence. The background and composition of Nigeria as a polity presents a very difficult political situation. Nigeria comprises of more than 250 different nationalities and tribes with about 150 million people. This composition presented an intriguing political scenarios shrouded with ethnicism and irredentism. From 1999 to the most recent 2011 general elections, there are overwhelming evidences of electoral fraud and violence across Nigeria. Our political elites are still unable to resolve the Nigeria election turmoil towards ensuring credible and violence free elections. Most times, rather than work towards ensuring coherent tapping of potentials and unification of the different ethnic nationalities for a stronger federation, the political elites often resort to balkanization and instigation of ethnic and religious rancor to score selfish political points.
The Problem
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In the recent past, elections in Nigeria has been plagued with continued instability and violence, with thousands of violent incidents occurring in the period leading up to, during, and after Election Day. These incidents ranged from defacing of election posters to inter- and intra-party clashes, violent protests, intimidation, arson, attacks, abductions, and killings. All these violent acts continue to severely disrupt the Nigerian electoral process.
While in the previous elections the political parties are advising Nigerians “Vote, Remain in the Polling Station until votes are counted to Protect/Guard your Votes” in many instances, location or situations the guard your vote strategy is not practical or possible owing to the interference of the security operatives or thugs that mostly prevent voter from staying in the polling stations or thugs that threaten voter with violence.
Similarly, with the advent of main Boko Haram and the other terrorist groups the tendencies for extreme violence is very real, thus the concept of converging in one area (polling station) for the purpose of protecting votes is simply unthinkable, because of the possibilities of premeditated bomb attacks and other form of violence many Nigerians will simply opt for safety (go home in one piece). However, things shall be left to chance or to the government alone.
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The recent amendments to the Electoral Act Amendment 2014 shifted the “Burden of Proof at Election Tribunal, as the responsibility of Contestants” with these new amendments, the burden of proving irregularities during an election has been lifted off INEC. Even though, legal practitioners believes that the responsibility of Burden of Proof shall be vested on the electoral commission because, having conducted the election; they should be saddled with the responsibility of proofing that it was credible. See for more Information: http://www.channelstv.com/2014/07/06/electoral-act-amendment-looking-new-provisions/
The Solution
The most realistic option, easiest and practical solution is to use technology to “Protect Votes and People’s Mandate” this is possible by using ordinary handsets cameras to capture ballots after thump-printing ( after choosing preferred candidate) before casting the ballot paper into the ballot box.
Voters may use Handset to Photograph their Ballot Papers using Mobile App and send the data to the storage server. In this way Voters will be able to Guard/Protect their Votes! without the fear of any physical confrontations (if network is not available at the time, users can save the image and it send later).
The collected data is store in a cloud server online, the data is accessible only to authorized user and can be linked to the Voter, his Location and Name if needed. The framework of the app & cloud backend is flexible as it will allow each contestant to subscribe to the service and get a separate dashboard with all the available data management tools.
Legality
- Recording ballot with handsets during election is legal while, wearing of masks during election is illegal - Femi Falana https://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/2014/08/07/wearing-of-masks-during-election-is-illegal-by-femi-falana/
- APC’s Bid To Stop Ebonyi Council Polls Suffers Setback — Sep 20, 2013 A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki on Friday dismissed the suit brought before it by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the decision of the state electoral body, the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) to conduct council elections using Option A 4. The presiding judge, Justice Miriam Onyekwunu, in her judgement ruled that EBSIEC has right under the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) and the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to conduct the council polls using Option A4 voting system. Onyekwunu said the right to personal secrecy as provided by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is restricted to an individual. Source: http://leadership.ng/news/326945/apcs-bid-stop-ebonyi-council-polls-suffers-setback
The point here is “If the right to personal secrecy as provided by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is restricted to an individual” then a contestant can seek voters consent individually during signup process to the app to get information on the voter’s copy of ballot paper.
The Solution is Practical and Realistic
This option, is deem viable because of the following facts about Nigerian Telecom usage and situations on ground.
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1.(a) 80% of Mobile Handset in use today have cameras;
(b) 70% of Nigerians access internet via mobile phone (TNS Connect - Global)
(c) Emerging Markets Mobile Attitudes Report (2013)
Sources:
http://www.upstreamsystems.com/2013-emerging-markets-mobile-attitudes-report/
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/report-unveils-new-trends-in-mobile-phone-usage/160272/
http://www.upstreamsystems.com/wp-content/themes/upstream/research/2013/2013emerging.pdf
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2. 85% of Nigerians within the voting age own a mobile phone, capable of capturing image data;
Source:
http://www.ncc.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:industry-overview&catid=65:industry-information&Itemid=70
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3. Over 70% of Mobile phones in use are smart-phones with camera capable of connecting to internet or using WAP
Source:
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2645115
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4. (a) 90% of Households in Nigeria own a mobile handset;
(b) 75% of adults living in urban areas and 39% of them living in rural areas have access to pre-paid mobile phones.
Source:
(a) http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/it-world/22063-telephone-lines-hit-169m-127m-active-ncc
(b) http://commtech.gov.ng/index.php/videos/daily-press-release/249-more-nig-mobilephones-backaccount
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5. The cost of camera phone has dropped to as low as N2,300:00 (Jumia Online Store) in Nigerian. It may even be lower on street markets. (This is a good development as those Nigerians without a modern phone may strive to replace their old phone before 2015 election if Voter Education is started early)
Sources:
http://www.jumia.com.ng/mobile-phones/?price=2343-110000&sort=Price:%20Low%20to%20High&dir=asc&megapixels=0.1
6. All Telecom Companies in Nigeria allocate FREE data to users WEEKLY ranging from 3MB – 10mb (some companies offer free on recharge of N100.00) the App will require just 150KB or less to send a quality image over a phone MTN Source: http://www.mtnonline.com/products-services/mtn-packages/super-saver-plus/faq
This is a good development as many Nigerians can submit their ballot paper copy without incurring additional costs
The important point here is these information and resources can be used to the advantages of Elites and Common Nigerians alike, the mobile apps can be made available in three flavors Android, RIM, iOS, and Windows. Other Older phone users with Simbian OS phones can use WAP to transfer their captured ballot images to the server.
A cascading strategy can be used to for easy data analysis, data sorting and to prevent system overload. In this case voters can submit their copy of ballots by selecting the agreed channel which will be communicated to voters during campaigns;
- By sending to Contestants;
- By sending to Ward Coordinator;
- By sending to LGA Coordinator;
- By sending to State Coordinator;
- By sending to National Coordinator;
The Mobile app allows users to send same message to as many recipients as he desires without incurring additional costs.
The option on how data is collected & collated is open and can be configured in variety of ways.
Beta Version 1.1, of Rescue Nigeria App is available for download here for trial and testing. Soon the app will be available in Google App Store Free for all Nigerians to install on their phones.
Note on Installing the Beta version 1.1:
Installation of apps directly on Android Phones that are not from Google Store will require user to enable install from Unknown Sources (a feature in android settings page that allows installation of non-Marker application – it is located Application Settings) The current version is for android 3.0 and above (other operating systems will be available soon).
INEC’s Steps on How to Vote (with a simple addition at the last stage – capture ballots with handset camera)
VOTER REGISTRATION
Step 1: A Nigerian citizen who is eligible to vote, goes to the INEC website to locate his Polling Unit.
Step 2: The citizen goes to the chosen Polling Unit to register vote guard
Step 3: The citizen would have his/her picture taken and his/her details captured.
Step 4: The citizen would be given a Voter ID card which makes him/her eligible to vote on election day.
ELECTION DAY:
STAGE 1: ACCREDITATION
Step 1: Go to the Polling Unit you were registered with your voter registration card ad join the queue
Step 2: Present your Voter registration card to the INEC official and ensure that your name is the register
Step 3: Your finger would be marked with ink to show that you have been accredited.
STAGE 2: VOTING
Step 1: Join the queue with the intention of casting your vote
Step 2: When it gets to your turn, ensure your name is ticked in the voter register
Step 3: You would be given a ballot paper listing out the political parties
Step 4: Enter the booth and select your preferred candidate.
Step 4(b): User shall use Handset to Photograph his Ballot Paper using Recue Nigeria App and send in to the storage server. In this way Voters will be able to Guard/Protect their Votes! without any physical confrontations (if network is not available at the time user can save the image and it send later).
Step 5: Place your ballot paper in the ballot box
Features and Screens of the Rescue Nigeria App
In a nutshell when a user captures his ballot paper using mobile phone camera, he can send a copy to designated recipient for his area, Local Government, State or National Coordinators the process is explained below. Additionally the voter can keep a copy of his ballot. The data is stored in a database which can be downloaded conveniently in various file formats such as Excel, CSV, SQL, XML, Text.
Registered Users and Coordinators Data
Registered Users and Coordinators Address, Age, email etc.
In Conclusion
The project will require financial support for online Cloud Storage services, Awareness Campaigns in Social Media Sites, SMS Channels and during Party Rallies, employment of additional hands to coordinate National, states, LGA activities and immediate involvement of all Nigerians especially the opposition parties in order to spread the word on how to curb election rigging and violence in the most peaceful way.
Printable article with the graphics is available here http://goo.gl/g0gxgh Sample Android App here http://goo.gl/DEynxN we hope you will get involve to create awareness before the 2015 election.
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