Assessment of Electronic Voting Technologies in African Context

Description

Page: 1748-1754

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17828456

Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad (School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa)

The integrity of holding elections shows the ethical culture of role-players and creates a good image for a country on a global platform. Unethical means employed to gain votes may hamper public trust which is detrimental to the social upliftment in a country context. The article aims to explore the issues of integrity in elections and understand the significance of considering the use of electronic voting technologies (EVTs) to combat corruption and misconduct involved. The study explores the aspect of ethical elections in the context of Africa. The article utilises secondary sources to compile information, hence form part of a qualitative desktop analysis. The information was gathered using literature and document reviews. The conceptual analysis was used to analyse and assess the information. The findings explore that there are various challenges that may occur when votes are not secured ethically. Internally, it impacts peoples’ trust in their political representatives, questioning the processes of electoral systems and obligating the representatives not by choice but by fraudulent means of voting arrangements. Externally, at the global level, countries involved in unethical means of securing votes may lose reputation, may face sanctions, and may have a negative impact on economic development, as other countries may withdraw export-import or other forms of economic activities with countries under mistrust. The article offers practical recommendations to implement ethics in the electoral system as a contribution to the study.