We wanted to share with you an interesting interview with Mr. Rakesh Sharma, IFES Director of Applied Research. The conversation belongs to a series called Dialogs on Democracy which is being created by IFES as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Mr. Sharma exposed his views on the use of technology in elections. Even though, at the moment technology is being utilized in all areas of the electoral process and in all phases of the electoral cycle, he foresees in the near future a further increase in the use of technology in elections. At the moment, at least 30 countries are using some kind of election technology.
Mr. Sharma also stressed the participation IFES had in the 2010 general election in the Philippines as electronic voting was being utilized for the first time. IFES advised the COMELEC (the Filipino electoral commission) on the technological aspects of electronic voting, and also provided assistance to COMELEC, election tribunals and civil society partners in the development of rules for dispute resolutions in automated processes.
We kindly invite you to take a few minutes and listen to the conversation.