The United States urged the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday to scrap plans to use electronic voting for the first time in elections this year, saying it risked undermining the credibility of the historic polls. After much delay, the DR Congo will hold elections on December 23 that are expected to pave the way to the first peaceful transfer of power in the vast mineral-rich country, ending President Joseph Kabila’s 17-year-rule. US Ambassador Nikki Haley told a Security Council informal meeting that the election commission’s plan to use electronic voting for the first time posed “an enormous risk. These elections must be held by paper ballot so there is no question by the Congolese people about the result,” said Haley. “The US has no appetite to support an electronic voting system.”
E-ballots have never been tested in DR Congo, Haley said, adding that “employing an unfamiliar technology for the first time during a crucial election is an enormous risk”.
“It has the potential to seriously undermine the credibility of elections that so many have worked hard to see have happen.”
Some 46 million registered voters will go the polls on December 23 to elect a president and to fill seats in the national parliament and provincial legislatures.
Full Article: US tells DR Congo to scrap electronic voting | The Citizen.