Comparative review of e-voting in India and Brazil: Key lessons for Kenya

Abstract

In many developing countries particularly in Africa, electoral processes and outcomes have been marked by increased violence, death and displacement of civilian populations. In Africa, attempts have been made to address issues which trigger electoral violence, top on the list being electoral fraud. The introduction of electronic voting (e-voting) has been heralded as a milestone in managing electoral fraud. However, evidence continues to show that electronic voting embraced in countries such as Kenya contends with questions around system insecurity, electoral malpractices and rigging. While electronic is often seen as a tool for making the electoral process more efficient and for increasing trust in its management the challenges are considerable. If not carefully planned and designed, electronic may undermine the confidence in the whole electoral process. Using available literature, this paper seeks to initiate critical discussions about electronic voting in Kenya and to particularly isolate issues that Kenya can borrow from countries such as Brazil and India which have fully implemented evoting in their electoral process.