The Cape IT Initiative (CITI) is for the first time electing its board via an electronic voting system, needed for convenience sake and the fact that its members are in the IT sector.
CITI is a public-private partnership organisation that aims to promote and encourage the development of the ICT sector in the Western Cape.
Its board members are mostly elected by its membership, apart from a few who are members by special invitation, or who are appointed by the Western Cape Provincial Government. Board members are not paid for their participation.
Andrea Bohmert, current CITI chairperson who is running for re-election, says the board decided to use the system as a mean of including all the organisation's members, rather than only having a few who are inclined to turn up physically.
“We are in the ICT sector so it makes sense for our members to use an electronic voting system,” she says.
Raven Naidoo, another CITI board member, says the system is auditable and there is confidence that it will work securely in the election.
“It seems to be reliable, easy, quick and convenient,” he says.
The CITI election started on Wednesday and is due to close at 01h00, Saturday, 26 June, and the results will be announced on 30 June.
Independent political commentator Daniel Silke says using electronic voting methods for small organisations, such as CITI, is probably the best way to get wider acceptance of such systems.
“Certainly, for CITI it makes sense; however, we still have a long way to go before it is accepted by the wider population for general elections,” he says.
Comments were made during the 2009 general elections that the 2014 elections could possibly be held using electronic methods rather than the traditional ballot box.
“To have general acceptance for electronic voting methods, we must have widespread access to broadband services, which currently we do not have. We also need buy-in from all the political parties, and we don't have that either,” Silke notes.
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