Could SA move to electronic voting?

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) said there were considerations to moving South Africa’s voting system from a physical ballot to an electronic one.

Can South Africa move with the times?

According to HSRC Research Director Benjamin Roberts, a study was done on this option and processes were underway to prepare for a green paper on the matter.

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“We are currently in a conversation with the commission about plans in the coming months to prepare a discussion paper on electronic paper as the basis of a green paper on electronic voting,” he said.

Roberts said there was still some scepticism among South Africans towards electronic voting. He said the concern was most about security and the authenticity of such votes.

In a recent study the council did they found that South Africans were divided over the issue of electronic voting.

It is not clear if this kind of voting will help the IEC to deal with several issues that have plagued it in recent days, including complaints over lost ballots and the mishandling of ballot boxes.

Some stations also experienced problems with scanners on voting day. The IEC had responded to this, saying it would not affect the integrity of the votes.

“This is not something you can walk into lightly it’s certainly a huge change, in terms of the voting procedure. It would require a few years to pilot and look at the experiences before deciding whether or not to fully adopt it,” he said.

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According to Benjamin, a survey the council conducted showed queues at voting stations on Wednesday were longer than those in the previous national election. This was due to several factors including the addition of more ballot boxes.

“The upswing we have seen is the highest one since 2009. Certainly, the highest we have seen in 15 years whether its high as in 1994 is difficult to say,” he said.