Use technology to improve elections – Speaker urges ECOWAS
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has called for the adoption of appropriate technologies in election management by members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
His comment comes from the background of deploying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions in virtually every sector of advanced countries.
This, he said, has heightened the essence of election management bodies to adopt applicable technologies to enhance their operations while ensuring better engagement with the electorate.
Referring to elections in Ghana, he said the country’s introduction of the Biometric Verification Devices (BDVs), for example, resulted in capturing voters’ details with minimal problems.
He opined that the use of this technology led to a reduction in multiple registrations and multiple voting.
He was of the view that “ICT does offer us new opportunities to manage conflicts better and build peace, especially at the local levels of our societies”.
He emphasised that beyond assisting in conflict prevention, participatory data collection and processing tools, ICT provides avenues for alternative discourse and community engagement.
This promotes peace and fosters non-violent attitudes and behaviours, especially among the youth, during elections across the sub-region.
Mr Bagbin, who was speaking at the ECOWAS forum in Winneba on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, expressed that “the refusal to accept election results by sections of the society and the abuse of social media to create tensions and divisions are matters of grave concern.”
He pointed out that violation of electoral processes in elections has become a major source of conflict, leading to violence.
He attributed such tensions to non-consensual constitutional reviews and non-compliance with presidential term limits, among others.
Mr Bagbin pointed out that these occurrences threaten the progress made in achieving participatory democracy.
Accordingly, he said, the phenomenon “calls for the strengthening of democratic principles and the institution of agreeable measures to improve the election process and ensure a transparent, free, fair and peaceful election.”
He further recommended the adoption of mechanisms for promoting political dialogue and peacebuilding in such countries.
Using judicial systems for electoral redress laudable
He also lauded leaders in the sub-region for resorting to legal systems, particularly the courts, to seek redress in election-related matters.
He noted that this trend was encouraging and urged electoral candidates who are dissatisfied with either the process or outcome of elections to resort to using the constitutional courts in their respective countries to resolve conflicts.
Having observed that the judicial system in some countries in the sub-region was slow in the administration of justice, he urged the deployment of technologies to fast track such judicial processes.
“The deployment of ICT tools provides the judiciary the opportunity to dispense justice in a more accessible, transparent, efficient, timely, and accountable manner,” he said.
“It is for this reason that the Judiciary in Ghana, for instance, introduced the Electronic Case Management System to expedite court processes,” the speaker of parliament added.
READ ALSO: Resolve Data Roaming Challenges To Aid Devt – Bagbin Urges ECOWAS