» View the videos Intelligent document & data capture

DRS e-Voting delivers complex election results in Abuja

DRS, the global election specialist, has deployed its e-Voting solutions to deliver results efficiently and effectively at the Nigerian Computer Society’s Annual General Meeting and Conference where members of its management committee were elected.  The Nigerian Computer Society is a prestigious society for Nigerians in the IT industry, from students to professionals, and has more than 3,000 members.

Twelve elections for individual and corporate members of the society were being competed for, from chairman of the society itself and his assistant, to chairman of various sub committees including the ethics & disciplinary committee.  For one of the elections, the touch-screen technology enabled the voters to choose six candidates from a selection of 20 running for the post.

Fifteen hours prior to the elections, the names of the candidates running were announced and, within just three hours, DRS had all fifteen touch screen election systems ready for the 200 delegates to cast their votes.  The voting took place during a one hour period and the results were produced and tallied within a few minutes of the polls closing.  Once the society’s election officers had completed their official procedures, a formal announcement of the results was made.

The register of eligible votes was pre-loaded onto a simple, touch-screen Electronic Poll Book.  On arrival at the polling place, society members were checked off against the electronic register.  The poll clerk then used the electronic poll book to issue the voter with a ‘one use only’ smart card.  This smart card was then inserted into the Direct Recording Electronic Equipment (DRE) touch-screen.  The voter was then presented, on-screen, with the ballot papers that they were eligible to vote for. After making their selections, the voter was presented with a summary screen and asked to confirm their selection.  At this point their votes were cast and securely stored.

This method of voting was chosen over the traditional paper-based approach to provide greater accessibility and convenience to members and to promote the use of technology in elections.

After the election, Professor Charles Uwadia, president of the Nigerian Computer Society commented: “Our members are delighted that e-Voting can be a reality in the country, especially with the ease of use and the speed of the systems in handling elections for twelve different positions.  I thank DRS immensely for its support in professionally conducting our 2009 election electronically and peacefully.”
Stakeholders and local election experts were able to observe the election and its success was reported on national TV and in the local media.

Additional information

To understand and meet the changing demands of the electorate, it is becoming increasingly important to offer voters more than one channel by which to cast their vote.  DRS provides a range of multi-channel technologies and solutions that are secure, robust and scalable and have been designed to counter the challenges of e-Voting platforms.  Integrity, transparency and security of the result was the number one priority for the Nigerian Computer Society elections, and the solution delivered this.  It also offered optional features such as pre-encrypted ballot packs and a secure administration system, which will only allow authorised personnel to access encrypted information.

The DRS solution enables voters to register securely and then vote using any method that is convenient for them – online, by telephone or at a kiosk.  By offering alternative ways to vote, organisations can provide greater accessibility and convenience than the more traditional method of paper-only elections.

For more information please contact:
Katie McBreen or Jill Hawkins
Friday’s Media Group, 18 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QL
Telephone: 0845 500 1140

» Back to news list