Are official election results processed by an electronic tabulation system?
South Sudan
According to a press release by the Carter Centre on Elections, on May 10, 2010, the Sudan national elections commission had prepared an electronic voter tabulation system. However, this system was not followed in some instances. The statement titled,
Carter Center Reports Widespread Irregularities in Sudan's Vote Tabulation and Strongly Urges Steps to Increase Transparency,
says in part:
“The NEC’s system for the counting and tabulation phases was implemented inconsistently, a problem compounded by insufficiently trained staff, inadequate resources, a lack of transparency and logistical problems in many of Sudan’s states. While the NEC designed an electronic tabulation system that contained numerous safeguards for data entry, the process was generally not followed as prescribed. This prevented key verification steps from occurring and compromised the accuracy of the results. In some cases, officials resorted to manual tabulation and ignored the NEC’s planned data security measures. The Carter Center urges the NEC to comprehensively verify the results received from SHCs to ensure that the integrity of the election is not further undermined.”
The Carter Centre report on the South Sudan elections also gives the same information, saying in part;
”While the NEC developed an electronic tabulation system that contained numerous safeguards for data entry, the process was generally not followed as prescribed. This prevented key verification steps from occurring and compromised the accuracy of the results. In some cases officials resorted to manual tabulation and ignored the NEC’s planned data security measures. Frequently, the electronic system that was developed to tabulate results was only partially used or not used at all.”
All these goes to show that indeed an electronic tabulation results system was developed, though it was not used in all instances, as officials in some of the polling stations resorted to manual tabulation of results.
Counting of ballots was done at polling stations levels around the country. Results Forms were then transported to the state High Election Committees (SHCs) for tabulation in the state capitals with results from each state then transmitted to the National Elections Commission (NEC) in Khartoum.
According to the Carter Centre report on the South Sudan, the electronic tabulation system was not properly used, which prevented key verification steps from occurring and compromised the accuracy of the results. In some cases officials resorted to manual tabulation and ignored the NEC’s planned data security measures. Frequently, the electronic system that was developed to tabulate results was only partially used or not used at all.
