In a review of news articles on the topic of drones and electoral security, cases of elections in four countries have been reported – India, Haiti, Nigeria, and Ghana.  The elections were held during 2014, 2015, and 2016 suggesting that the use of drones as electoral security tools is in a leading-edge phase.  The purpose of this analysis is to put forward the findings thus far on these three cases, the applications where drones can be employed, and the limitations on their use. India In December 2014, Israeli-built Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were deployed, under the control of the Indian Air Force and Army, for surveillance over “hot spot” locations in the Kashmir Valley.  These Herons were deployed along with Indian-built mini-drones.  Drones were deployed weeks before Election … [Read more...]

History of Electoral Violence Electoral violence was experienced in the first election in Zimbabwe in 1980 with an assassination attempt on candidate Robert Mugabe.   The parliamentary election of 1995 was described as a “non-election” because in 40 per cent of the constituencies Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) was the only party contesting.  Similarly, in the presidential election of 1996, Robert Mugabe was the only candidate. The 2000 Referendum and General Election Electoral violence as it is currently manifested had its defining moment in the post-election phase of the constitutional referendum of 2000.  The government suffered a loss and began its campaign of violence in the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary election. In the pre-election period, … [Read more...]

Elections in Mali have largely been violence-free and deemed credible by domestic and international stakeholders. At the same time, a short-lived military coup d’état and conflict in the northern half of the country between the Tuareg rebels and Islamist militias are factors that create vulnerabilities for electoral violence in 2018 when Malians are scheduled to cast ballots for president in July and parliament in November.  The recent conflicts can be traced back to 2012. In March of that year, just weeks before the end of President Amadou Touman Touré’s term of office, a coup d’état was led by Captain Amadou Sanogo.  In April, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) brokered a political agreement between the mutineers and the government and recognized a transitional … [Read more...]

This year Liberia will conduct its third presidential and legislative election since the end of the civil conflict in 2003.  The elections are scheduled for October 10.  However, the National Elections Commission (NEC) faces significant financial and operational challenges to maintain this electoral calendar and the events leading up to it: accreditation of election observers, voter registration, commencement of civic education among other responsibilities.  And, the legacy of the civil war, unemployed youth, identity politics, and a ‘winner takes all’ political culture combine to create continuing vulnerabilities for electoral violence to occur again in 2017. In 1996, a peace agreement was signed which ended the First Liberian Civil War.  That war lasted from 1989 until 1997 and … [Read more...]

On March 7, 2018, voters in Sierra Leone will go to the polls to elect a president, national legislature, and local representatives. Since the civil war ceasefire in 2002 (and even before the war), violence has been a persistent feature of elections in Sierra Leone, and the elections next year possess unique vulnerabilities for such violence to recur. The president is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office.  As a result, since this is the conclusion of President Ernest Koroma’s second term, the seat is open. This open seat is intensifying intra-party and inter-party conflict, within the ruling All People’s Congress (APC), but particularly within the main opposition party -  Sierra Leone’s People’s Party (SLPP) – among those seeking to become the ‘flag bearer’ … [Read more...]