REVOLUTIONIZING AFRICAN ELECTIONS: THE ROLE OF BLOCKCHAIN AND

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Majiuzu Daniel Moses

[email protected]

Abstract

Elections in Africa over the years has been riddled with sad tales of violence, rigging and
electoral malpractices. The hitherto much used traditional ballot system has been an easy
avenue to perpetrate electoral crimes which largely go unpunished. This has become a
stigma in Africa thereby rendering its electoral process to criticism and lacking credibility. A
change of this status quo will require a revolutionary approach that will usher in a new
frontier of electoral regime. Digitalizing the electoral system could be the much needed
revolution needed and Blockchain technology offers the perfect digital platform in ensuring
Africa’s electoral process

Introduction

Africa is home to some of the world's most struggling democracies, and the focus on digital
technology in elections shows that countries are willing to make improvements wherever
possible. In recent years, however, some African nations have struggled with ensuring fair
and efficient elections. Issues such as voter intimidation, ballot stuffing and vote rigging have
been common occurrences. These issues not only undermine the credibility of African
elections but also contribute to political instability in the region.

Digital technology is changing the way elections are conducted in Africa. The 2023 Nigerian
presidential elections saw the first-ever use of digital technology in the electoral process;
while Sierra Leone in 2018 became one of the first countries to trial the use of blockchain
technology during elections1, Kenya also already implemented ‘blockchain’ technology in its
2022 election. This new way of conducting elections brings with it a number of implications
and inferences that can benefit all African countries. This article will discuss these
implications and inferences by comparing the recent Nigerian and Kenyan elections; looking
at how digital technology was used, the advantages it offers, and how other African countries
can learn from these two pioneering nations. We will also discuss the potential risks posed by
this new technology, as well as what needs to be done in order to ensure a safe, secure, and

1
Daniel Finnan, ‘Sierra Leone tests blockchain technology for tallying election results’ (RFI, 15 March 2018)
<https://www.amp.rfi.fr/en/africa/20180315-sierra-leone-tests-blockchain-technology-tallying-election-results>
accessed 5th May 2023
fair electoral process for all nations.

Overview of blockchain and digital technology

It is no secret that the world of democracy has evolved from the traditional paper ballot
system to a digital platform. Having successfully implemented blockchain technology in their
electoral process, Kenya provide useful insights into how digital election technology works,
as well as its potential implications for other African countries.

Blockchain technology is a distributed database based on cryptography that records and

stores digital data immutably in a secure and transparent way. It is used to ensure
transparency and accuracy of data by using verification protocols that are resistant to
manipulation or tampering.

In terms of electoral processes, blockchain technology can be used in various ways such as
securing voter information, casting votes, tallying results and auditing outcomes. In Kenya’s
presidential election for example, the technology was deployed for biometric voter
registration and electronic transmission of voting results from different constituencies. This
ensured accuracy and quick tabulation of official results at the national level. Nigeria also
followed in Kenya’s footsteps by leveraging blockchain-based platforms to manage voter
identity, registration and although voting procedures was not digitally adhered to in terms of
transmission of results in realtime from the BVAS machines during its recently concluded
presidential elections.

This move towards digital elections shows promise for African countries; it brings improved
security measures, real-time tracking capabilities, cost savings due to reduction in manual
labor, easier accessibility through online platforms, transparent outcomes and overall process
efficiency gains.

The Benefits of Blockchain and Digital Technology in Elections

Digital elections have provided several advantages in Kenya's election. In particular,

blockchain technology has allowed citizens to exercise their right to vote with greater
confidence, accuracy, and transparency than ever before. By having a secure, distributed
ledger in place to track voting habits and results, citizens can trust that their votes are being
counted as they were cast.

Using digital technology also helps to increase voter turnout by removing the barriers of
physicality, more people are able to participate in the process of democracy. This is especially
important in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya that have limited infrastructure and access
to traditional polling places. Moreover, digital elections drastically reduce the cost of running
an election by streamlining processes such as ballot-counting. Without the need for manual
counting or paper ballots, costs associated with labor, materials and transportations can be
drastically reduced; this means governments can allocate these saved resources towards other
crucial services such as health care or education programs that benefit constituents directly.

Blockchain and Digital Technology in African Elections

The just concluded March 2023 Nigerian elections and that of Kenya's in 2022 clearly
demonstrate that digital technology, specifically the use of blockchain technology, can be
successfully implemented to secure elections in Africa.

In Kenya, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) launched the
Kinetic Universal Elections System (KUES), designed to conduct digital voting and create a
secure blockchain-based system of resource management. The KUES system runs on a
blockchain-based platform that enables transactions to be stored securely on distributed
ledgers and is built entirely on biometric data derived from fingerprints and facial recognition
software. The result was a successful election with high transparency and low risk of fraud.

In Nigeria, Smartmatic, a global leader in election technology, provided innovative voting

solutions such as the e-PollBook product, a tablet-based device designed to improve
efficiency by allowing voters to check in electronically at polling locations. This allowed for
greater accuracy and significantly reduced the risk of fraud. Additionally, Smartmatic also
provided an electronic voting system that allowed citizens to cast their ballots via biometric
devices (BVAS) connected to an electronic poll book for verification before counting.

These two case studies demonstrate how effectively digital technologies can be used in
African elections. It is clear that digital technologies have improved both the security and
accuracy of elections in Africa, while providing citizens with greater access to voting
information and resources they need to make informed decisions. The way forward is for
more African countries to embrace similar digital technologies to make their electoral
systems even more secure and transparent.

BlockChain & Digital Tech in Kenyan 2022 Elections

Despite shortcomings, Kenyans set a new and higher electoral bar for themselves,
themselves, their neighbors, and the rest of Africa. In 2022, Kenya became the first African
nation to use blockchain technology for its presidential elections. The electoral process took
advantage of the technology's secure digital infrastructure and advanced authentication
protocols to allow citizens to vote remotely without having to physically go to polling places
and cast ballots.

The elections in Kenya ran smoothly and were widely acclaimed as a success. The digital
platform allowed for a secure, verifiable, and transparent vote-counting system that
minimized the risk of voter fraud or manipulation. This was accomplished through a
comprehensive system of biometric identification, as well as encryption technologies which
ensured the accuracy and reliability of each individual’s vote.

What this showed is that digital technology is coming of age in Africa and that it can be
successfully employed in large-scale elections. Moreover, it proved to be an effective way to
reduce potential cases of fraud, while also providing a user-friendly platform for voters who
may not have access to traditional voting methods. This could revolutionize African politics
and open up opportunities for increased citizen engagement in electoral processes across the
continent.

Independent Monitoring Enhances the Legitimacy of the Outcome

The results validated by the Supreme Court were widely accepted, in part, because they were
corroborated by the Nairobi-based Elections Observation Group (ELOG), Kenya’s largest
election monitoring coalition2. Its parallel vote tabulation (PVT) produced almost similar
results to that of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with a
margin of error of between 0.1 and 2.1 percent. ELOG deployed 5,000 observers in all 47
counties, covering 47,000 polling stations3. An additional 1,000 PVT monitors crunched
incoming data from the IEBC portal in real time.

Complementing the PVT, for the first time in Kenya and possibly Africa EBC data released
from the polling stations was accessible to the public and this allowed Kenyan media to run
their own tallies and release provisional results 72 hours before the IEBC thus armed with
this data, they also provided 24-hour analysis of the polls, setting a new norm worth
emulating. The steady stream of data allowed the political parties, civil society organizations,
and ordinary citizens to concurrently track the unfolding results. In other words, the public
was kept informed of the seesaw nature of the contest and the factors that were shaping the
outcome facilitating its credibility.

The Courts as a Force for Electoral and national Stability

Kenya has slowly and purposefully been reinventing itself and its democracy beginning with
the adoption of a new constitution in 2010. Much of this heightened trust in the courts can be
traced to the 2010 Constitution which strengthened the independence of Kenya’s judiciary
and other oversight institutions. There is renewed sense of confidence in the judicial system.
For courts to play a similarly stabilizing role across Africa, this judicial trust must be earned,
however.

A pivotal step in this evolution of judicial independence was the historic Maina Kiai Petition
of 2016, a civil society-led petition introduced ahead of the 2017 election by legal scholar

2
Eromo Egbejule, “Kenyan Observers group says projections tally with election result”
<https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/8/16/kenyan-observer-group-says-its-projections-tally-official-
results> accessed 10 May 2023
3
ibid.,
Maina Kiai and in agreeing with it, the High Court issued a ruling that overhauled Kenya’s
electoral laws by introducing groundbreaking standards of transparency, ownership, integrity,
and accountability the outcomes of which were visible in the recently concluded polls4.

The Traditional Approach in Nigerian 2023 Presidential Elections

The 2023 Nigerian Presidential Elections was concluded with the re-election of President
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While the elections were largely anticipated to be free and fair
with the advent and introduction of the Biometric Voters Registration System (BVAS), such
widely euphoria were crushed having been conducted manually in various parts of the
country hence digital technology was not employed. Compared to Kenya's 2022 elections,
wherein a blockchain technology-powered voting system was utilized - this makes for a stark
contrast.

The Nigerian election process has many traditional aspects to it. For example, people had to
physically visit polling stations to cast their votes; votes were counted by hand and manually
collated; transportation of boxes containing ballot papers between polling stations and state
headquarters was done using trucks. In addition, each ward collation center was guarded by
security personnel to ensure that the voting process occurred without any disturbances or
frauds.

These traditional processes contributed to making the Nigerian presidential elections of 2023
susceptible to manipulations and widespread rigging hence eroding belief of a free election
free from any possible foul play or forms of irregularities. It could be argued that some of
these processes are outdated and indeed posed a challenge in ensuring timely results delivery
in future elections considering Nigeria's vast population size. There were instances of
mutilation of manual copies of results and collusion of Electoral officers with politicians to
rigging elections.

Comparison of the Kenyan and Nigerian Election Outcomes

Although Nigeria and Kenya adopted digital technology in their elections, there were
differing outcomes. The election of William Ruto in 2022 gave the people of Kenya hope that
democratic values still prevailed. On the other hand, Nigeria's 2023 polls were marred with
violence, ethnic divisions and tensions and the emergence of the President-Elect. The
introduction of BVAS in the Nigerian elections was seen to be a game changer as results were
expected to be transmitted electronically instead of the manual method adopted at various
state collation centres, No doubt the use of the BVAS would have cushioned the flaws
experienced in previous elections associated with electoral fraud, rigging and snatching of
ballot boxes by thugs as results would have been electronically transmitted instead of manual
4
Walter Khobe Ochieng, ‘Protecting the integrity of the Electoral process: The promise of the Maina Kiai
Judgement’ Journal of law and Ethics(2018)3 Centre for Jurisprudence & Constitutional Studies Kabarak
University School of Law
counting thus obviating the possibility of third party interference to truncate the election and
ultimately affect the credibility and transparency of the electoral process

The comparison of these two countries' election processes and outcomes offer important
insights for African nations who are also planning utilizations digital elections. Digital
technology is beneficial for ensuring a credible, transparent, and fair electoral process;
however, its long-term effects rely on the political will of leaders for it to thrive. In order for
digital elections to be successful in Africa, it is important that African nations have a well-
functioning judiciary system which enforces election laws with credibility and independence.

African Governments should create an atmosphere of trust between citizens and leaders by
engaging stakeholders, including civil society organizations, media outlets and other
politicians in dialog surrounding elections. This will help build trust in the electoral process
as well as ensure peaceful transitions between administrations.

Improvement of Election Processes Through Innovation

Innovation was at the epicenter of Seirra Leone’s 2018 elections and Kenya's 2022 elections.
One of the significant improvements in the election process was the use of blockchain
technology - a revolutionary approach to providing secure, transparent and immutable
records. By using this technology, voting results were quickly tabulated and recorded into an
immutable ledger for public viewing, with no chance of fraud or tampering. Additionally, this
election marked the first time that ballot papers were printed with tracking codes for
increased accountability.

This innovative approach not only improved the way elections are conducted in Kenya, but
also may serve as a model for other countries looking to modernize their voting systems. In
fact, it has been reported that several African nations have expressed interest in using
blockchain technology during their elections - a clear testament to its efficacy and potential
impact.

Going forward, blockchain technology presents an opportunity to create secure and

transparent digital infrastructure in many African countries something which could drastically
reduce electoral fraud and vote rigging across the continent. With such technology already
being used successfully in Seirra Leone’s 2018 elections and Kenya’s 2022 elections, it is
only a matter of time before digital voting becomes commonplace throughout Africa.

The Role of BlockChain in Strengthening African Democracy

One of the most talked-about aspects of digital elections in Nigeria and Kenya is the use of
blockchain technology to secure election processes and results. Blockchain is a distributed
ledger technology that leverages a decentralized network of computers to maintain a secure
and transparent record of transactions. This same technology has been used in both Nigerian
and Kenyan elections to ensure voter data accuracy, reduce the risk of fraud, and ensure that
electoral outcomes can be verified.

In Kenya, blockchain was used to authenticate voter identification cards and facilitate an
audit trail for ballots cast. This allowed for an automated process that ensured reliable
election results with fewer chances of human error or interference. In Nigeria, digital
technology was also introduced to authenticate voters and to store secure vote tallies on a
distributed ledger, eliminating the issue of paper records that can easily be lost or tampered
with however this abandoned by the electoral umpire in Nigeria on election days on ground
of servers been unable to upload in real-time. Overall, blockchain technology has played an
important role in improving the trustworthiness of digital elections in Africa. By leveraging
this reliable technology, Kenya has made significant strides towards ensuring their electoral
processes remain secure and accurate for future elections.

The Implications for the Future of African Elections

Digital elections are here to stay, and Africa is at the forefront of the revolution. The
groundbreaking efforts of Seirra Leone, Kenya and Nigeria demonstrate that digital
technology has the power to create a secure and resounding electoral process, setting a
precedent for future African elections. By implementing blockchain technology into its voting
systems, Seirra Leone and Kenya has made great strides in making its electoral process more
transparent, efficient, and reliable.

The implications for future African elections are threefold and is vividly captured under the
following:

1. Improved Efficiency: Encrypted voting rolls, combined with blockchain technology

and digital infrastructure, will allow for expedited voting processes during elections
greatly reducing lines outside polling stations.
2. Robust Security: Blockchain's ability to store encrypted data securely is invaluable in
creating an incorruptible voting system without vote rigging or tampering – leading to
more accurate vote counts and election results.
3. Reduced Costs: Removing the need for physical ballots will result in cost savings for
governments facing tight budgets due to reduced operational expenses associated with
printing costs, staff salaries and training expenses – as well as improved accuracy in
vote counting processes due to automated vote-counting systems built into
blockchain-enabled digital election infrastructure.

By looking to The Seirra Leone and Kenya’s example, governments across Africa can look
forward to more secure elections in the years ahead ushering in a new era of digital
democracy on the continent. The use of blockchain technology in Kenya's election was an
attempt to improve its electoral system. By using a distributed ledger system to store votes
securely and transparently, blockchain can significantly reduce the risk of election fraud. This
milestone will no doubt spark a new dawn in Africa’s electoral system and how digital
technology can be used to improve elections on the continent and enthrone democracy.

Recommendations for Implementing Blockchain and Digital Technology in African

Elections

As Africa continues to embrace the digital revolution and blockchain technology, the
continent has a great opportunity to transform its election process. Here are some of the key
recommendations on how this can be achieved:

i. Data and Identity Management

It is important for African countries to develop secure, reliable and robust data management
systems to ensure accurate voter information. This would solve multiple issues related to
voter identity and eligibility and enable an efficient election process. Additionally, it should
have strong security protocols in place to safeguard vital data from tampering or fraud.

ii. Holistic Blockchain Integration

Blockchain technology should be leveraged for its transparency and immutability features in
order to provide stakeholders with trustless, secure, real-time access to voting results. This
could bring greater accuracy to the results as well as ensure that the election results are
publicly accessible and verifiable.

iii. Education on Digital Solutions

For digital solutions to be successful in African elections there need to be substantial

investments made in educating both public and private sector actors, including election
officials, political parties, civil society organizations and voters around how such systems
work. Voter sensitization prior to elections is pivotal as this would help build trust amongst
stakeholders as well as increase awareness of the various technologies available for
leveraging in elections.

Conclusion
In conclusion, digital elections in Seirra Leone, Kenya and Nigeria were different, yet
comparable spectrum that had more similarities than differences. Both events revealed how
far digital technology can go in improving electoral processes and the need to strengthen
existing infrastructure to ensure more successful digital election processes in the near future.
With the right application of digital technology, Africa could soon become a leading voice in
digital election processes. While the introduction of technology heralded a new belief in
Nigerians towards having a credible, free and fair electoral process, however failure of the
electoral Umpire (INEC) to utilize the gains of technology through the use of BVAS machine
has led to widespread condemnation of the entire electoral process in the country. The lessons
learned in both Nigeria and Kenya could be used as a blueprint for other countries in Africa
and beyond to successfully launch their own digital election processes to enthrone
democracy.