An Analysis of the Readiness of Voters in the Western Region of Ghana for Electronic Voting

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out how ready voters in the Western region are for electronic voting. It focused on electorates’ perspective and also assessed the infrastructural readiness of the Electoral Commission (EC) for e-voting. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as the base theory for the study. Using the survey’s research design, questionnaires were administered to 400 electorates in Sekondi – Takoradi and 352 of the electorates responded. An interview was also held with the staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Sekondi-Takoradi constituency to ascertain EC’s infrastructural preparedness for e-voting.

The study revealed that the majority (70.5%) of the electorates were aware of e-voting through one medium or the other but only a few (10.2%) of the electorates had ever used e-voting in an election. The majority (67.3%) of the electorates perceived the usefulness variables as important characteristics of e-voting that can help mitigate the electoral irregularities in the current electoral process. The majority (72.3%) of the electorates had very high confidence in e-voting. However the response from the interviewee suggested that EC is not in the least prepared for the introduction of e-voting. Perhaps the year “2016 and beyond”. Based on the findings, the study concludes that it is feasible to implement e-voting in Ghana but for the lack of infrastructure.

Keywords: Electronic (e-voting), Electoral Commission (EC), Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s), Election Management Bodies (EMBs)