Data Security and Internet of Things in
e-Electoral Process
Prof. SB Junaidu
Director, Institute of Computing & ICT
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
November 17, 2015
Outline
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Introduction
Nigerian Electoral Process: A Post-mortem
Process Re-engineering
Hi-Tech e-Voting Systems
Security Issues
Recommendations
Summary
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Introduction:
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Theme:
Re-engineering national electoral processes through
the adoption of hi-tech e-voting system
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November 17, 2015
Introduction: The Electoral Process
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Relates to the entire cycle ranging from the provision
of voter education to the dissolution of the National
Assembly
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Refers to all the activities and procedures involved in
the election of representatives by the electorates
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Refers to all the pre and post election activities
without which an election is meaningless.
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Introduction: The Electoral Process
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According to INEC (2006) the electoral process
includes:
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Delimitation of electoral constituencies
Registration of voters
Notice of elections
Nomination of candidates
Election campaigns
Elections, announcement of results and completing tribunal
sittings
Participation of other organizations
Resolution of electoral conflicts
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
The Nigerian Electoral Process
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1999-2015: A Quick Review
Based on Osita Agbu’s “Unbridled Election
Rigging and the Use of Technology…”
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… The Nigerian Electoral Process
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From 1999, Nigeria conducted five elections: 1999, 2003,
2007, 2011 and 2015
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Nigeria’s electoral history had been characterized by
grave incidences of electoral rigging beginning from the
First Republic
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NDI (2003) report on 2003 election
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mentioned 12 states where fraud and irregularities were rampant
and concluded that the minimum standard for democratic
elections were not met
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November 17, 2015
Nigeria’s 2007 Election
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Marred with Irregularities (TMG, 2007):
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late arrival of materials and officials, stealing of ballot
papers, vote buying, harassment, chanting, shooting
and taunting of voters, lack of secrecy of voting, police
interference, ballot snatching and stuffing,
intimidation and political violence, denied access to
polling stations, partiality of electoral officials and the
police, improper voting procedures, late
commencement of elections, and underage voting
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Nigeria’s 2007 Election
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The TMG concludes:
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the whole (2007) election was a charade and did not meet the
minimum standards required for democratic elections.
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November 17, 2015
Nigeria’s 2011 Election
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According to (Idowu-Fearon, 2014), led to
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INEC introduced reform measures for credible
elections
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Unfortunate and unnecessary deaths of 943 persons,
with 838 injured in the aftermath of the 2011
Presidential election
Yielded appreciable results
Implications for the 2015 elections
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November 17, 2015
INEC Reforms towards 2015 Election
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From the experiences of the 2011 elections, INEC
began early to plan for the 2015
Three focal points of structure, policy and plan
were articulated
Introduced the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)
and Smart Card Reader (SCR).
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The most novel and strategic measure taken
made it extremely difficult to rig the elections
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Nigeria’s 2015 Elections
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Environment
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Nigeria was on the front burner of global attention
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Highly charged, INEC under scrutiny and alleged to be
compromised in favor of the ruling party
Kofi Anan and Anyaoku’s move to douse tension
Visit to Nigeria by prominent ex-Presidents in Africa to lend
their voice for peaceful elections
John Kerry’s visit to Nigeria soliciting for peaceful elections
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November 17, 2015
2015 Elections: The Triumph of Technology
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Use of Social Media (INEC, Parties, etc.)
– Information dissemination & feedback
eTRAC
– Access to signed PU results from INEC web site
AFIS
– Removal of multiple registrations
Parties’ digitised and ICT compliant situation rooms
tracking events especially on Election Day
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November 17, 2015
… 2015 Elections: The Triumph of Technology
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PVC and SCR made it extremely difficult for
results to be manipulated
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PVC and SCR ensured free, fair and credible
polls in 2015.
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“The card readers and PVCs won us the elections,” Kayode
Fayemi
“I think the card reader and the PVC have helped deepen
democracy in Nigeria,” Nasir el-Rufai
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November 17, 2015
Are We Home, Yet?
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Key lessons learnt
– gains made in ensuring increased
credibility for the electoral process
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Problems with use of technology
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disseminating unofficial and inaccurate
results in violation of the provisions of
the Electoral Act
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… We Home, Yet?
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There were riggings in spite of the use
of the PVC and SCR technology
– under-aged voters with PVCs
– over-counting, double voting,
cancellations, and hijack of ballot
papers
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Process Re-Engineering
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Many aspects of the electoral process can benefit
from technology
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E.g., boundary delimitation
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GIS
“Point and Click” boundary delimitation systems
Focus, briefly, on technologies for e-voting
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Process Re-Engineering: Voting
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Key steps of the voting sub-process
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voter identification and authentication
voting and recording of votes cast
vote counting
publication of election results
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Voter Identification & Authentication
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Required during
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Done manually in most countries
Some countries (including Nigeria) use technologies
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Voter registration to establish right to vote
Voting to allow voters exercise right to vote
smart cards
database management systems
biometric information
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November 17, 2015
Voting & Vote Recording
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Requirements of a credible and reliable voting
procedure
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Secrecy (all cast votes unknown until election ends)
Anonymity (avoiding collusion, coercion)
Fairness (one voter one value)
Accuracy (in voter identification and votes counting)
Transparency
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November 17, 2015
Voting & Vote Recording
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Two broad voting methods
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Printed ballot papers
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Electronic voting
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Believed to be the most accurate and most reliable for vote
counting
Provide high efficiency
Capacity to deliver election results in a short time
May lack log or paper trail on machine failure, suspicion of
fraud, etc.
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
E-Voting Systems
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A way to get people vote electronically
Common types of e-voting systems
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Optical scanning systems
Direct recording electronic systems (DRE)
Internet
Used on a large scale in Belgium, Brazil, India,
Venezuela, the US and others
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
E-Voting Systems: Optical Scanning Systems
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Voting done using machine-readable ballots
Voter feeds card directly into a computer vote
tabulating device
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or place the card in a ballot box
The computer tabulating device identifies the
marks made by voters on the cards and
records votes accordingly
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
E-Voting Systems: DREs
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Voters mark their votes directly into an electronic
device, using a touch screen, push buttons or a
similar device
With DRE systems there is no need for paper ballots
Use of DREs expanding in Belgium, Brazil, India and
Venezuela
Requires lots of voter education for use in Nigeria
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
E-Voting Systems: Internet Voting
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Polling site Internet voting
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Kiosk Internet voting
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Ballots cast via Internet from clients machines physically
situated in official polling places
Both hardware and software of the client controlled by
election officials
client machines controlled by election officials but
distributed in public places (e.g., shopping malls)
Physical environment and voter authentication not directly
under official control
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
E-Voting Systems: Internet Voting
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Remote Internet voting
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Neither client machines nor physical environment
under control of election officials
Though very attractive, presents serious intractable
security risks
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Advantages of Internet Voting
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Internet voting can be used to
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improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and legitimacy
of democratic elections
The most important advantage to the voter is
convenience
Cost saving
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Security Issues
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With whatever new technology is on the table,
security is always the big topic
You have to be able to assure the public that it’s a
system that has integrity and security, and that folks
will be comfortable utilizing it in every day practice
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Michael Winn, director of elections for Travis County, Texas
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Security Issues
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Internet voting is subject to inherent insecurity of
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Most home computers use a version of MS Windows
A major goal of MS Windows is ease of use for novices
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not intended for highly sensitive “mission critical” apps
Can be a fertile ground for viruses, worms, spyware or
Trojan horse attacks
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The user’s computer
The network that connects to the central server
Despite wide-spread use of firewalls and anti-virus software
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Security Issues
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Securing the connection between the voter’s computer
and the central server is also problematic
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Use same technologies for e-commerce and internet
banking to prevent MitX attacks
Other forms of attacks
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Although use of public-key cryptography allows a degree of
confidence in the integrity of the network
Denial of service
Spoofing (e.g., phishing)
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Security Issues
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Guaranteeing security of internet voting more difficult
than that of internet banking
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Unlike financial transactions, no connection may be
desirable between voter and his vote
Discovery of errors and anomalies in transmission or
recording of votes cannot feasibly result in a correction
of these results
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Despite widespread deployment of internet banking
May lead to votes or even election invalidation
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Internet Voting Deployment
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No country has deployed a fully electronic voting
system at the national level
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Hybrid systems (manual and electronic) offer a
wide range of solutions, several of which have
been used in a number of countries
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Internet Voting Deployment
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The State of Geneva in Switzerland beginning 2003
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To support their peculiar frequent voting for “direct
democracy”
Parliamentary votes often subjected to ratification or
refusal by the citizenry
US Military experiment for use by overseas activeduty military personnel
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Internet Voting Deployment
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Full deployment of Internet voting is likely or even
inevitable in the future
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For now, there are challenges
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Many crucial elements of the voting scheme completely
outside control of election authorities
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
… Internet Voting Deployment
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For Nigeria, there are even more challenges
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Infrastructural issues
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Technology issues
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Availability
Ownership
Skills or competency issues
Ownership
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Future Technologies: Internet of Things
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Environment where objects have unique IDs
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IoT evolved from the convergence of
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and can transfer data over a network without
requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer
interaction.
wireless technologies
micro-electromechanical systems
the Internet.
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Recommendations
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Government should develop and deploy base ICT
infrastructure
Government should review laws guiding elections
to address abuses ICTs
NITDA should provide funding for developing
indigenous voting technologies
INEC should leverage tried-and-tested, ICT-driven
standards for secure electoral data dissemination
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
Summary
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Reviewed Nigerian electoral process
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Highlighted role of technology in the process
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Touched on importance of security in the process
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Surveyed hi-tech e-voting systems and their deployments
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Provided recommendations to support objectives of the
summit
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015
References
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Osita Agbu (2015), Unbridled Election Rigging and the Use of Technology: The Smart
Card Reader as the ‘Joker’ in Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election, Research and
Studies Department, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs
Eguavon Augustine Ainabor (2009), “Problems of Elections and Imperatives of Reforms
in Nigeria‟s Democratic Process”, The Constitution, Vol.9, No.3, September.
The National Democratic Institute (NDI)(2003), “Election Special”, The News
Magazine, Vol.20, No.15.
Jega Attahiru (2014), Electoral Reforms in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges,
INEC.
INEC (2006): “Building Confidence in the Electoral System” Abuja: Independent
National Electoral Commission.
e-Nigeria 2015@International Conference Center, Abuja
November 17, 2015