Programmers and coders are expanding the horizon from business, information, and communication into politics since the political will of the African people may not likely be truncated if run by technology and not by manual methods.
Much more than the auxiliary support of technology in governance, there has been a recent innovative mechanism to strengthen the core principles and benefits of democracy.
BVAS is the tech infrastructural tool to achieve a more democratic society. BVAS is an acronym for Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) that electronically reads Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticates voters against impersonation and multiple voting using a voter’s fingerprint.
BVAS functions with the aid of a bar code / QR code on the PVC or by entering the last six digits of the Voter Identity Number (VIN) or by typing the last name of the voter, as against the traditional approach of Z-pad voting style, which is time wasting and most times strenuous.
With the use of BVAS, pre-voting (voter enrolment, voter accreditation) and post–voting activities (result collation) are captured on one device. BVAS machine is also designed to eliminate the lapses due to analog manipulation of votes and voters.
Certainly, it is convincing that Nigeria and other African societies have reached a milestone in the political and democratic system through the machinery of technology. The Z-pad has been marked with system malfunctioning and operational errors.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has tested the new voting technology and has recorded success but has also encountered the challenge of quality internet services in some rural settlements in the country.
INEC is expected to maneuver out of the challenge by taking advantage of the opportunities technology offers. Although anti-e-voting activities among certain nations showed the possibility of hacking with an anti-hacking monitoring system, BVAS remains the most secure tool that guarantees a more democratic process in African society.
Definitely, INEC is also expected to have an underground plan to counter any threat against BVAS and other telecom infrastructure ahead of the 2023 elections in Nigeria. Hence it is a major concern to transmit data via online channels to eliminate human influences to guarantee a safe electoral process.
As technological innovations continue to integrate into the core human living, has there been any area technology has not influenced? Join intellectually, and let’s brainstorm! Share your thoughts on the limitations of technology in your area of interest.
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Image Source – EiENigeria
