E-voting readiness in Kenya: A case study of Nairobi

Abstract

Developing countries have established promising e-voting initiatives with the objective of enhancing the democracy for their citizens. However, governments tend to design and launch systems based on their understanding of what citizens need, surprisingly, without actually measuring the extent of readiness and what increases citizens' willingness to adopt the services. It is important that Governments must first understand variables that influence citizens' adoption of e-voting in order to take them into account when implementing e-voting systems. This project addresses critical factors that influence adoption of e-voting with objective of developing a framework. The framework synthesizes, refines, and extends current approaches to understand adoption factors. The study started with a background research to identify factors that influence the adoption of innovation and e-voting. A survey was thereafter carried out in eight constituencies in Nairobi County which had questions on voter readiness for e-voting. The study was conducted by surveying 203 voters from eight constituencies in Nairobi County. The project aimed at exploring the correlation between e-voter readiness and the diffusion rate of e-voting in Nairobi County. E-voting Readiness is achieved by determining the stage of readiness and comparing to the UN 2008 indices for developing countries. The findings indicated that there is a positive correlation between e-voting readiness and its diffusion. The research is of more importance at this stage as Kenya is approaching election cycle period. Government and electoral stakeholders will comprehend voter readiness and diffusion of e-voting in Nairobi County in order to implement effective, acceptable and secure electoral process.