Tech and Elections Law
Listers, The Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 <http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2016/ElectionsLaw_Amendment_Bill_2016.pdf> [pdf 606 KB] was tabled in Bunge on 26th August. Nine parts that jumped out at me. - 2(e) defines "biometric" which includes "signatures" - 4(2) IEBC has to a "public web portal" for inspection of the register of members of the public. - 44(2) IEBC to develop a policy on the progressive use of technology in the electoral process. - 44(7)(a) technology used for 2017 restricted to the process of voter registration, identification of voters and results transmission; (No electronic voting this time round) On the tech itself (open source only solutions?) - 44 (3) technology should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. - 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes" On timelines IEBC - 8A. (1) at least six months before a general election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters - 44 (7)(b) tech has to be procured at least eight months before the general election (Dec 2016 for an Aug 2017 election) - 44 (7)(b) test, verify and deploy such technology at least sixty days before a general election. I suspect some of the members here were instrumental in drafting section 44. I would be interested to hear their thoughts on the process. Particularly interested in 1. the push for open source software. (Disclosure, I am currently the CEO of Ushahidi <https://www.ushahidi.com/> - we build and use open source software) 2. whether we feel the timelines are realistic -- Daudi Were | daudi@were.co.ke Technology + Strategy Too brief? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org
Dear all, I think it was unwise to write specific technologies into the law as technology moves e.g. * Biometric is no longer considered secure because of 3d printing * Why insist on a web portal while sms verification worked well in the past? * Technology is not a panacea to all electoral issues i.e. the people, procedure and policy issues need to be resolved Regards, Alex From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+awatila=yahoo.co.uk@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Daudi Were via kictanet Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 2:49 PM To: awatila@yahoo.co.uk Cc: Daudi Were <daudi.were@gmail.com> Subject: [kictanet] Tech and Elections Law Listers, The Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 <http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2016/ElectionsLaw_Amendment_Bill_2016.pdf> [pdf 606 KB] was tabled in Bunge on 26th August. Nine parts that jumped out at me. * 2(e) defines "biometric" which includes "signatures" * 4(2) IEBC has to a "public web portal" for inspection of the register of members of the public. * 44(2) IEBC to develop a policy on the progressive use of technology in the electoral process. * 44(7)(a) technology used for 2017 restricted to the process of voter registration, identification of voters and results transmission; (No electronic voting this time round) On the tech itself (open source only solutions?) * 44 (3) technology should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. * 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes" On timelines IEBC * 8A. (1) at least six months before a general election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters * 44 (7)(b) tech has to be procured at least eight months before the general election (Dec 2016 for an Aug 2017 election) * 44 (7)(b) test, verify and deploy such technology at least sixty days before a general election. I suspect some of the members here were instrumental in drafting section 44. I would be interested to hear their thoughts on the process. Particularly interested in 1. the push for open source software. (Disclosure, I am currently the CEO of Ushahidi <https://www.ushahidi.com/> - we build and use open source software) 2. whether we feel the timelines are realistic -- Daudi Were | daudi@were.co.ke <mailto:daudi@were.co.ke> Technology + Strategy Too brief? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org
Dear Daudi, Thanks for sharing the bill. I am a support of open source and I believe it can aid a lot in the implementation of the software. However it takes political goodwill from both sides of the divide for such a system to be a success. If I remember well, the previous system was been tested well and errors pointed out but I believe all these issues were ignored no wonder the failure of BVR kits etc. It is my hope that this time round when testing is done, errors will be corrected and a retest (as expected) will be done to ensure better fault tolerance , security and verifiability and among other desired characteristics of the system are inherent. Regards, R.Ojino
On Sep 23, 2016, at 2:49 PM, Daudi Were via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers,
The Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 <http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2016/ElectionsLaw_Amendment_Bill_2016.pdf> [pdf 606 KB] was tabled in Bunge on 26th August.
Nine parts that jumped out at me. 2(e) defines "biometric" which includes "signatures" 4(2) IEBC has to a "public web portal" for inspection of the register of members of the public. 44(2) IEBC to develop a policy on the progressive use of technology in the electoral process. 44(7)(a) technology used for 2017 restricted to the process of voter registration, identification of voters and results transmission; (No electronic voting this time round) On the tech itself (open source only solutions?) 44 (3) technology should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes" On timelines IEBC 8A. (1) at least six months before a general election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters 44 (7)(b) tech has to be procured at least eight months before the general election (Dec 2016 for an Aug 2017 election) 44 (7)(b) test, verify and deploy such technology at least sixty days before a general election. I suspect some of the members here were instrumental in drafting section 44. I would be interested to hear their thoughts on the process. Particularly interested in the push for open source software. (Disclosure, I am currently the CEO of Ushahidi <https://www.ushahidi.com/> - we build and use open source software) whether we feel the timelines are realistic
-- Daudi Were | daudi@were.co.ke <mailto:daudi@were.co.ke> Technology + Strategy Too brief? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org <http://emailcharter.org/>
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@Daudi and all Wasn't this part of the laws passed as part of the IEBC reform package? Regards, 2016-09-23 15:08 GMT+03:00 Ronald Ojino via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>:
Dear Daudi, Thanks for sharing the bill. I am a support of open source and I believe it can aid a lot in the implementation of the software. However it takes political goodwill from both sides of the divide for such a system to be a success. If I remember well, the previous system was been tested well and errors pointed out but I believe all these issues were ignored no wonder the failure of BVR kits etc. It is my hope that this time round when testing is done, errors will be corrected and a retest (as expected) will be done to ensure better fault tolerance , security and verifiability and among other desired characteristics of the system are inherent. Regards, R.Ojino
On Sep 23, 2016, at 2:49 PM, Daudi Were via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers,
The Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 <http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2016/ElectionsLaw_Amendment_Bill_2016.pdf> [pdf 606 KB] was tabled in Bunge on 26th August.
Nine parts that jumped out at me.
- 2(e) defines "biometric" which includes "signatures" - 4(2) IEBC has to a "public web portal" for inspection of the register of members of the public. - 44(2) IEBC to develop a policy on the progressive use of technology in the electoral process. - 44(7)(a) technology used for 2017 restricted to the process of voter registration, identification of voters and results transmission; (No electronic voting this time round)
On the tech itself (open source only solutions?)
- 44 (3) technology should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. - 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes"
On timelines IEBC
- 8A. (1) at least six months before a general election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters - 44 (7)(b) tech has to be procured at least eight months before the general election (Dec 2016 for an Aug 2017 election) - 44 (7)(b) test, verify and deploy such technology at least sixty days before a general election.
I suspect some of the members here were instrumental in drafting section 44. I would be interested to hear their thoughts on the process. Particularly interested in
1. the push for open source software. (Disclosure, I am currently the CEO of Ushahidi <https://www.ushahidi.com/> - we build and use open source software) 2. whether we feel the timelines are realistic
-- Daudi Were | daudi@were.co.ke Technology + Strategy Too brief? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Grace L.N. Mutung'u Nairobi Kenya Skype: gracebomu Twitter: @Bomu <http://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/profile/GraceMutungu> PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
Thanks Daudi for sharing. On 23 September 2016 at 15:49, Daudi Were via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
- 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes"
This is a good process. My only worry is how it will be implemented. The Open Source Software may be in place, but I wonder how it will be audited. Will they audit the live server, or the application that has been adopted by the IEBC? What assurance will we have on any tampering ... ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya twitter.com/lordmwesh
Mwendwa et al, Access to source code does not necessarily mean the use of Open Source Software. Even if the software is proprietary, the entity that develops it should be in a position to hand over source code to IEBC and sign non-disclosure agreements if they wish to protect their code. IEBC themselves should be in a position to de-obfuscate and reverse engineer the application packages view source for double verification. This is simply to ensure that “votes are not being multiplied by eight” and other such incidences do not occur. As far as auditing goes, the analysis performed should be both static (on the application packages themselves) and dynamic (while the application is up and running) and there are several entities that can do a professional job on this front. Regards, Emmanuel Chebukati From: Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet
@Daudi, My thoughts on this were captured here... WALUBENGO: Electoral reform panel's proposals hit the right | | | | | | | | | | | WALUBENGO: Electoral reform panel's proposals hit the right Policy-makers should not wait to adopt the joint select committee's recommendations until after public press... | | | | walu. From: Daudi Were via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: Daudi Were <daudi.were@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 2:49 PM Subject: [kictanet] Tech and Elections Law Listers, The Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 [pdf 606 KB] was tabled in Bunge on 26th August. Nine parts that jumped out at me. - 2(e) defines "biometric" which includes "signatures" - 4(2) IEBC has to a "public web portal" for inspection of the register of members of the public. - 44(2) IEBC to develop a policy on the progressive use of technology in the electoral process. - 44(7)(a) technology used for 2017 restricted to the process of voter registration, identification of voters and results transmission; (No electronic voting this time round) On the tech itself (open source only solutions?) - 44 (3) technology should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent. - 44 (5)(f) IEBC and others need "access to electoral system software source codes" On timelines IEBC - 8A. (1) at least six months before a general election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters - 44 (7)(b) tech has to be procured at least eight months before the general election (Dec 2016 for an Aug 2017 election) - 44 (7)(b) test, verify and deploy such technology at least sixty days before a general election. I suspect some of the members here were instrumental in drafting section 44. I would be interested to hear their thoughts on the process. Particularly interested in - the push for open source software. (Disclosure, I am currently the CEO of Ushahidi - we build and use open source software) - whether we feel the timelines are realistic -- Daudi Were | daudi@were.co.keTechnology + StrategyToo brief? Here's why! http://emailcharter.org _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
participants (7)
-
Alex Watila -
Daudi Were -
echebukati＠gmail.com -
Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) -
Mwendwa Kivuva -
Ronald Ojino -
Walubengo J