Abstract
This chapter examines the perception of academics regarding the suitability and adequacy of e-Voting in the Nigeria polity. A qualitative approach using interviews as the data collection instruments was employed. Five research questions were developed and used in the interviews. The population of the study comprised academic staff in the South West Nigerian universities. From this population, 250 academic staff were purposely selected from five universities. This represents the sample for the study. Five research questions were developed and used in the interviews. The results demonstrated that Nigerians are aware of e-Voting systems, the advantages of e-Voting revealed include ease of voting, ease of counting, electoral vote fraud prevention, and cost reduction, To a great extent, Nigeria is e-Voting ready, and the e-Voting system is relevant to the Nigeria electoral system. Respondents find electronic voting desirable in Nigeria given reasons such as saving time/cost, queuing reduction, and Nigeria being technologically advanced enough to carry out a fast voting process. Hindrances to e-Voting and recommendations for the effective adoption of e-Voting in the Nigeria polity were highlighted.
TopObjective
The main objective of this study was to examine the voters’ perception regarding the suitability and adequacy of e-Voting in the Nigerian polity.
The specific objectives of the study were to:
- 1.
Determine the Nigerians’ awareness of e-Voting.
- 2.
Determine the perception of voters about the adequacy of the e-Voting system in Nigeria
- 3.
Find out whether or not Nigeria is e-Voting ready.
- 4.
Examine the relevance of e-Voting to the Nigerian electoral system.
- 5.
Investigate the reasons for desiring or not desiring e-Voting.
- 6.
Identify factors that can hinder the adoption of e-Voting in Nigeria.
Key Terms in this Chapter
E-Voting: Refers to any voting process where an electronic means is used for votes casting and results counting.
E-Identification: It is the electronic process of identifying and authenticating voters using tool such as fingerprint scanner programmed for using with e-Signature, e-Government systems and other e-systems.
E-Government: eGovernment is the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the activities of public sector organisations.
Politics: The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
E-Democracy: Is defined by the use of electronic information and communications technologies (ICTs) to extend or enhance access to information and facilitate participation in democratic communities, processes and institutions.
E-Signature: A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document, and possibly to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been sent is unchanged.
Election: An election is a formal decision making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.