Elixir of electoral fraud: The impact of digital technology on the 2015 general elections in Nigeria

Abstract

The democratisation of politics in most post-colonial formations like Nigeria has not been successful in terms of reducing the incidence of voter intimidation, ballot box snatching/stuffing, multiple voting, falsification of results and other associated electoral malfeasance. Thus, electoral democracy in the country is inseparable from monumental and brazen electoral manipulations. Besides the role of civil society organisations and other principal stakeholders in elections, the introduction of a biometric smart card reader for the authentication of voters’ cards seems to have made most of these electoral ills largely unworkable. Specifically, this essay investigated the role of the card reader in improving the credibility of the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria. The study is a qualitative research and it relied on the cybernetics model of communications theory. It found that the novel technology has rekindled the confidence of most Nigerian voters and international partners. Consequently, e-voting should be adopted as a tool for curbing electoral fraud in the country.