E-VOTING IN GHANA’S ELECTIONS: THE WAY FORWARD Elections in Ghana allow the populace to choose their representatives and express their preferences for how they will be governed. Naturally, the integrity of the election process is fundamental to the integrity of democracy itself. The election system must be sufficiently robust to withstand a variety of fraudulent behaviors. In addition, it must be sufficiently transparent and comprehensible so that voters and candidates can accept the results of an election.
Unsurprisingly, history in Ghana and across the globe where democracy is practiced is littered with examples of elections being manipulated in order to influence their outcome. The design of a “good” voting system, whether electronic or using traditional paper ballots or mechanical devices must satisfy a number of sometimes competing criteria. • The anonymity of a voter’s ballot must be preserved, both to guarantee the voter’s safety when voting against a malevolent candidate, and to guarantee that voters have no evidence that proves which candidates received their votes. • The voting system must also be tamper-resistant to thwart a wide range of attacks, including ballot stuffing by voters and incorrect tallying by insiders. • A voting system must be comprehensible to and usable by the entire voting population, regardless of age, infirmity, or disability. • Providing accessibility to such a diverse population is an important engineering problem and
Even though voter fraud does occur, it is not as often as one would imagine. Over the years people have implied that “dead people” and illegal immigrants are voting. But according to the Washington Post, “2014 only 31 creditable cases of fraud occurred, which is little to none considering the billion that cast
The article, “Oklahoma Law: Tough on Minority Party and Independent Presidential Candidates”, by Richard Winger seeks to explain how Oklahoma stringent election laws came to be and why having these laws that make it difficult for minor parties to succeed should change. The problem Winger addresses in his article is supported by historical evidence ranging back from 1890 to today, with comparisons made to other states. The case against rigid election laws that Winger presents is supported by over a century of historical evidence he presents. Starting in 1890, when Oklahoma was still a territory, voters were free to create their own ballots. These ballots were typically provided by a voter’s preferred political party and would only carry the
Even if someone was not able to access some form of technology, when voting or near the time of voting pamphlets are given which provide information on every topic for the voter to vote on. As an effort to level the playing field between less populous states and more populous states, the Electoral College