In Election 2012, Ghana's EC introduces a new process to verify voters before they are allowed to cast their vote. This was in the form of biometric verification, a good idea but poorly not so well implemented.
The new process which was supposed to reduce the rather tedious and laborious process of voting rather turned into a nightmare for many Ghanaians who woke up as early as 2AM to join queues (Why wake up that early anyways? Eligible voters get to vote so long as they are in the queue before 5PM voting day!!!).
From BV machines breaking down constantly to not working at all, to EC's website going down for hours, one can easily conclude that EC really isn't prepared to take technology to the next level in Elections. I am happy we are gradually integrating technology into some of our core processes, but lets do it well, especially when its on the national level.
It was rather embarrassing when machines kept breaking down with no backups. Come on, who spends millions on such a huge project and takes backup less serious. At least the EC should have thought of manual override of some sort should incase the machines failed.
A few things in my opinion must have contributed to this failure. A collection of bad IT decisions and people who don't understand technology. And I am not talking about the IT guys who were behind the actual development of the system. Am talking about whoever was in charge of the entire project.
Who was the project manager for this BV project? Were the polling agents trained to handle simple diagnostics of the machines should in case they ever broke down? Who is responsible for EC's website, does he know about scalable web applications? I don't think so.
The new process which was supposed to reduce the rather tedious and laborious process of voting rather turned into a nightmare for many Ghanaians who woke up as early as 2AM to join queues (Why wake up that early anyways? Eligible voters get to vote so long as they are in the queue before 5PM voting day!!!).
From BV machines breaking down constantly to not working at all, to EC's website going down for hours, one can easily conclude that EC really isn't prepared to take technology to the next level in Elections. I am happy we are gradually integrating technology into some of our core processes, but lets do it well, especially when its on the national level.
It was rather embarrassing when machines kept breaking down with no backups. Come on, who spends millions on such a huge project and takes backup less serious. At least the EC should have thought of manual override of some sort should incase the machines failed.
A few things in my opinion must have contributed to this failure. A collection of bad IT decisions and people who don't understand technology. And I am not talking about the IT guys who were behind the actual development of the system. Am talking about whoever was in charge of the entire project.
Who was the project manager for this BV project? Were the polling agents trained to handle simple diagnostics of the machines should in case they ever broke down? Who is responsible for EC's website, does he know about scalable web applications? I don't think so.
I won't be surprised to hear that the EC wasn't ready to pump cash into the project and they got what their money could afford them
ReplyDeleteHenry, I am not sure which edition this was published but someone actually did talk about the possible flaws: https://docs.google.com/open?id=12bv5jR-Ql41kcqAtI6_7HaGqwqqyzg6Y6kSQyp8d8ST2gNoZy2KRxATlXz1c
ReplyDeleteThe False Reject Rate (FRR)of these Biometric Machines resulted in disenfranchising people in this election, and this situation is not good for our democracy.You can read more here:https://docs.google.com/open?id=1oQbxg2kEIVAUfUd32hQz46KfIhhq66hfN46C1P_W_7JHkFAFK3eJHR1bnCWB
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. I know the chap who built the site and I think it's safe to say he knows about scalable web apps. I agree with the commentator who said they got what they paid for. The failure may be more readily attributable to leadership than technological ignorance. Again, the lead developer of the BV is a close friend and the process was well supervised by a German mother company (German engineering, anyone?) He is a very capable and experienced, certified programmer. we like it cheap in Ghana but scalability costs. Until we change the best for cheapest mentality, I'm afraid even the best of us will be victims to such mishaps.
ReplyDeleteSidney point well made, hence reason I did not attack the developers but the people responsible for taking certain decisions. All these chaps you mention don't work for EC right? They were probably hired as consultants just for these projects. At the end of the day I don't know these people so who do I blame? EC of course, because its their project and they probably did not listen to advise from these people.
ReplyDeleteFrom your comment it's safe to blame who ever gives the final go ahead on everything Technology at EC. He failed!!!