How can technology help enhance transparency and integrity of elections - oyuntuya (wsp mongolia)

How can technology help enhance transparency and integrity of elections - oyuntuya (wsp mongolia)

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  Women for SocialProgress AESF III FORUM – BALI, INDONESIA 22-26th of AUGUST 2016
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  Introduction to Mongolia Mongolia lies in the heart of Central Asia  19th largest country in the world with 1,564,116 square kilometres  Population of over 3 million
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  Election background  Mongoliarecently held its 7th democratic Parliamentary election on the 29th of July 2016.  The election resulted a landslide victory for the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) securing 65 seats in the 76 seat Parliament.  The election was held by the Automatic election system (AES), which was introduced from the Parliamentary elections of 2012. (4 elections)  Due to the election of 2008 political parties enacted new laws in 2011 on parliamentary elections and introduced an automatic election system which was progressive reform for the country’s electoral system.  The AES was introduced to prevented all subjective factors that could possibly cause illegal interference with the process of the elections
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  About the AES The following two processes have been atomized: 1. Voter registration system – with voter identification through biometric data 2. Voting and results – ballot casting, vote counting, vote tabulation and election reporting.
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  AES – Voterregistration 1. The voter registration is conducted by the State registration Office through the biometric system since the 2012 elections. 2. The voter registration systems allows development of voter’s name list, changes to the registration and finalization of voter’s name list. 3. The process of voter’ checking and confirming their registration can be checked online within the 4 months before the elections.
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  AES – Voterregistration system The Voter registration system core is the program, which allows:  Registering voters  Printing of registration sheet  Develop election turnout results  Show voter registration details
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  AES – Voterregistration system  The voter registration system consists of: 1. Portable laptop computer with secure briefcase – carry all voter registration names registered to the polling station, each polling station is given 1-2 laptops in ratio to the voter’s registered 2. Fingerprint scanners – Voter’s fingerprints are scanned in order to show their details of their registration and all the information is shown on a screen open to the public 3. Voter registration list printers – If the voter’s personal details are correct and has no errors, the voter registration slip is printed out 2 copies.
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  AES – Votingand counting  The Voting and Counting system consists of: 1. Vote counting scanner– reads ballot papers, recognize ballot papers, save ballot image, vote count, result print and send election results. 2. Ballot box – contain all ballots scanned by the scanner and prevent from outside peaks.
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  AES – Votingand counting  The Voting and Counting system consists of: 4. Additional equipments – magnet keys, CF card, modems and batteries , 5. Other equipments– Programmer of magnet key and CF card, high speed scanner, magnet key and CF card readers.
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  AES – Reults “Live”broadcasting of election result  The election results were broadcasted “live” through television channels as soon as the election closed and results were sent to the General Election Commission – which increased the trust from the stakeholders on the election results . (the counting in some cases took 72 hours which raised suspicion and distrust)  The final result is also made available to the public by posting on the websites of the GEC
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  Why use AES? Easy and simple to use  In case of a malfunction with the scanning machine, able to continue the election process by traditional manual collection to the ballot box  Can be monitored more, limit outside interference  In case of a conflict with the vote counting, manual counts can be conducted to check the results
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  Problems presented 1. Distrustin the system due to:  AES is based on programming therefore can not be monitored by observers which leads to low transparency  With it not being transparent, and need professional expert for its correct maintenance, it raised insecurity with the public of its safety, especially when it comes to program hacking  Valid or invalid ballot papers and votes cause confusion with the final results  The idea of the system being developed and purchased by a foreign organization can seem as if the election has a possible foreign influence
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  Problems presented 2. Thedistrust in the automatic system continued until the results of the 2016 Parliamentary elections due to:  GEC’s lack if response to show that there are no outside influence or hacking of any sort  The media sector tend to concentrate more on the allegations , view and opinions of the distrusted rather than informing of the advanced and correct functionality of the machines.
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  Gains from thesystem 1. The double registration of the voters where erased which means no issues of fake address, voter registered in more than one address or double voting 2. Acceptance of the election result by stakeholders 3. Major decrease in the conflict and violation of the voting, counting and tabulations stages of the election process 4. Simplified the counting and tabulation process of the elections and reduced its time which also influences the increase of trust in the system. 5. No more issue and effort to confuse the election results by attempting to change the results 6. A possibility to copy the ballot paper is erased as the security of the paper is increased.
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  How are risksmanaged for the AES? New system, especially when it is based on information technology is followed by certain risks regarding technology failure and security. Therefore the GEC has developed policies to maintain the sustainable operation of the system and manage in case of any issues. The back-up plan is managed by the  “Policy on ensuring the safe operation of the AES”  Back-up plan to ensure sustainable information process  Policy on monitoring whether the the legal laws and legislation are being followed when operating the
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  Efficiency, integrity andtransparency Conducting the elections by the AES has increased efficiency of the election as it reduced the violations, interferences and issues regarding voter registration and counting of elections. The system of voter’s identification approved by their fingerprints, ballot paper issued by their approved identity and ballot papers scanned and counted automatically has ensured the integrity of the election. The public showing of the voter’s identity and the systematic process of voting as well as the automatic results counting and sending to the GEC, more importantly, broadcasting the results live, without any waiting ensured the transparency of the election process.
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  Thank you foryour attention