A Continent Ridiculed by Comical Electoral Processes

Democracy as a system of governance seems to be a viable path to sustainable living, especially for regions and states which are home to millions of people, diverse in their beliefs and ideologies. In its purest form, it allows everybody, of satisfactory legal requirement, to choose the laws and representatives they believe will bring peace, prosperity and progression in the right direction to their lives. This system, on paper, would be the perfect system by which citizens of a nation state if it weren’t for the single largest antagonistic factor known in history: man.
Human beings, throughout history have done two things: Create and innovate new techniques, technology and breakthroughs. 2. Corrupt and pervert everything they have created and innovated, for selfish reasons of course. It is no secret that man loves himself, I mean don’t we all? Don’t you want what is best for you and only you? To what extent would you go to achieve your selfish interests? This is the mindset and mentality politicians, who parade themselves as “champions of democracy” operate with. I will shed some light on two distinct cases.

Post Election Coup in Gabon

A study of the recently concluded Gabon Presidential election is ample evidence to back my initial claims. One family has held democratic power for decades, making their democracy appear to be a familial birthright. Mixing Monarchal rule with dividends of democracy only benefits the ruling class, while those who are being represented struggle for crumbs that fall to the from the tables of their “representatives’. The Gabonese Presidential election result saw the incumbent President Ali Bongo win again, for a third term, a result of the lifting of limits to presidential terms by his father, former president Omar Bongo in 2003. Bongo jr’s win seems to be the load that broke the camel’s back as the Gabonese military took matters in their hands, staging a coup on the 30th of August, 2023.
In a country that experienced post election violence in its last election (2016), it leaves little to the imagination to wonder what would have been the fallout if the 2023 election was perceived to be fraudulent. Could blockchain technology solve the issues Gabon faced in its election? Some of the electoral issues faced were the claims of double voting, ghost voting,

Failed Use of Technology in Nigerian Elections?

The Presidential election in Nigeria was the most unique democratic election the country has ever witnessed, for many reasons. One reason was the result of the election. 3 candidates each won 12 different states/regions of the country. The use of the INEC IREV technology in the election was also a positive first, though its operation was far from spectacular and leaves so much to be desired. The IREV was welcomed by all Nigerians as they thought the government was serious about curbing electoral malpractice in the country. It was designed to upload election results from each polling unit, calculate the
scores as they were sent in and add them to the overall scores. The problem with the IREV began when the servers could not be reached, some polling unit agents claimed they were not given the login and pin details for their assigned polling unit, another issue we saw online were the numerous threats to life and property if particular candidates were not voted for. Election violence in some parts of Nigeria were documented and shared through social platforms like X, Facebook, WhatsApp and so many more. Ballot box snatching was yet another recurrent issue faced during the election.
All these problems stem from the fact that Nigeria is a multi cultural and diverse state, home to many ethnic groups, many religious faiths, a widening divide in economic class and the consistency of every successive government to do worse than their predecessors. With blockchain technology, these problems could be solved instantly and a seamless, transparent election can be conducted.

Why is Blockchain Technology perfect for Elections?

Immutability, decentralization, security, consensus, distribution and more make blockchain
technology perfect for preventing electoral fraud and creating free, fair and credible
elections. Lets take a look at each characteristic individually to see how they can contribute
to better elections in Africa.

Immutability: This characteristic is the most important of all. It is the permanent nature of blockchain technology. Once a transaction has been made, it is permanently written to the blockchain and can NEVER be REMOVED nor ALTERED. There is no way uploaded results on the blockchain will be tampered with because it will not be possible. Election results will be viewable immediately and there will be no way for external sources to change it. Even if the mobile network, Wi-Fi or internet goes off, there will be no way to maneuver and alter the results of the election.
Decentralization: rather than have a central server (the electoral commission’s server) control the flow of results, A distributed server (controlled and operated by numerous computers not operated by only the electoral commission should be employed. This way, there would be a spread of security, reducing the risk of a wipe out of all election data collected by a single source. If the electoral commission fails to collect data, the data would still be collected by other sources.
Transparency: Given that every transaction recorded on a blockchain is visible for all network participants to see, blockchain technology would be a major deterrent to the inflation and rearrangement of voting figures by bad actors. Every citizen and election monitor would be able to see the election results in real time as votes are being cast. No form of manipulation would go unnoticed, even though it wont be possible.
Security: Due to the cryptographic techniques employed in blockchain technology, it would be difficult for unauthorized parties to tamper with the data. No external sources would be able to tamper with the election results during or after the election.
Anonymity: The transactions on a blockchain are transparent for all to see, but the people doing the transactions remain anonymous. This is a critical characteristic that will greatly improve the credibility of elections across Africa. Take the recent Nigerian elections for example; there were several reports of violence against people who had a particular candidate of choice. Videos showing intimidation of voters surfaced while other videos clearly showing political goons threatening the lives of citizens if they didn’t vote in the candidate of consensus. Blockchain technology would eliminate all that hooliganism since tall voting will be done in the comfort of our homes or wherever we feel safe and comfortable voting. No citizen will face intimidation by politically sponsored rogues. You will not also face stigmatization for isolation from the social circles you live in because of your choice in candidate, as nobody will know who you voted for. The true wish and person of
the people would be reflected.
Efficiency: Middle men and intermediaries are removed from transactions on the blockchain, this makes it super fast and seamless. This same approach could help create more efficient elections. Removing polling unit agents and collation centers will help streamline the electoral processes because not all polling units are located in urban areas. Some polling unit agents must travel by water before they reach the assigned polling station, with the potential for mishap at an all time high. Humans are also bias, no matter how profess or neutral you are expected to be, there are always bad elements that allow their bias dictate their decisions and operation. Removing the electoral middlemen will create a better election and give the election greater credibility.

Now, it’s obvious that we are a long way away from implementing Blockchain technology into our electoral processes, so many tests need to be conducted before it would become a reality. However, there is a chance that Africa can take hold of her democratic process and advance it through the use of Blockchain technology. The continent has gone through poor leadership as a result of fraudulent elections, but we can never give up hope. This is our home and we must be the change we want to live in, starting with automated and systematic free, fair and credible elections.

Till next time.