CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction 1.

1 Background of the study Voting and elections are essential ingredients of modern democratic societies. Unlike any other transactional event, the result of elections can have many effects on societies and their economic and financial wellbeing. Recent elections have seen a gradual decline in the overall percentage of the electorate exercising their right to vote. This is worrying from a democratic point of view in that, if the reasons of the decline are left unchecked, the mandate of those elected to hold the positions might eventually be questionable. Moreover, it is interesting to note here that traditional/manual voting systems are slow, complex, inaccurate and inefficient. To counter these drawbacks, Governments and other institutions have proposed a number of possible methods for re-engaging the electorate in the voting process. One of these methods is the modernization of the way in which the elections are being conducted. These methods include the use of electronic voting and biometric system as a new and modernized way to carry out the election process. E-Voting extends polling hours (anytime voting) and enables casting of votes from any place (anywhere voting) using different electronic means (any device voting) such as mobile devices and Internet-based voting. In this technological age, it is imperative to explore and encourage greater use of information technology (IT) in most forms of service delivery. The ability to cast a vote through a multitude of choices such as web and mobile technologies is instantly attractive. Such facilities should also overcome constraints associated with the current voting process and engage more young voters. There is no doubt that remote electronic voting offers a convenience that would be appreciated by many people. E-voting enables citizens to participate electronically in democracy and provides them with more information about candidates and the election they are being asked to participate in.
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There is an ongoing discussion in many countries about e-voting with particular emphasis on voting via Internet or electronic distance voting. While some kind of e-voting is already widely used by society, organizations and private industry voting needs as well as non professional/non-official polling, the situation is quite different when it comes to national elections and referendums. Several countries are considering the introduction of e-voting and are running a variety of pilot projects. Because of security concerns there is, in some countries, a strong opposition to any kind of e-voting, but especially when it comes to the use of the Internet for voting at national elections or referendums. Such resources include centrally located servers (for databases and software) for the Academic Records Information System, the Library Information System, the Finance Information System and the Human Resource Information system. 1.2 Statement of the problem Students voting process has always been marred with rigging and poor management of the election voting and results management. This has necessitated the design of an students election management system. 1.2.1 Purpose The overall purpose of this program is to curb rigging during elections. 1.3 Objectives 1.3.1 Main objectives i. ii. To Enable fast and effective voting in the county To enable storage of poll results and the information voting activities for a long period. iii. To curb the problem of rigging of polls.

iv.

To enable the electoral body man elections effectively and from a central point.

v. 1.3.2

To reduce the cost of holding elections.

Specific objectives i. ii. iii. iv. v. To produce the election results immediately after voting. To produce a list of registered voters. To facilitate voter registration before the elections. To ensure that only persons with the right to vote are able to cast a vote. To ensure that every vote cast is counted and that each vote is counted only once. vi. To maintain the voters right to form and to express his or her opinion in a free manner, without any coercion or undue influence. vii. viii. To protect the secrecy of the vote at all stages of the voting process. To guarantee accessibility to as many voters as possible, especially with regard to persons with disabilities. ix. To increase voter confidence by maximizing the transparency of information on the functioning of each system.

1.4 Research questions The program design attempted to address the following questions:
i. ii. iii. iv.

How accurate is the manual system of voting? How efficient, fast and effective is the manual system of voting? Is the current system able to store election results safely? Is the current system able to detect rigging of elections?

v. How cost effective is the current system?

1.5 Significance of the study This program will be of great importance to the staff union officials because it will enable them monitor voting process. This research will also enable students to and get leaders they want. Finally the application will enable administration get manage elections easily.
1.6

The scope, Delimitations and Limitations Delimitations This research will be carried out in Jomo Kenyatta University, Kisii CBD Kisii County. Jomo Kenyatta University has been selected because iam a student and I can testify that elections of union officials have not been managed well. The study will focus on automating the union election process.

1.6.1

1.6.2

Limitations This study is limited to Jomo Kenyatta University, Kisii CBD Kisii County.

1.7 Assumptions i. Elections are rigged. ii. Voting process is too slow. iii. Election process is inefficient
iv.

Lack of efficient automated system has delays result announcement.

1.8 Conceptual framework Independent Variable Automated election System Dependent Variable Students Administrators

1.8.1 Conceptual definition of variables Students These are learners in schools, colleges and universities. Administrators These are employees who offer services in a school, college or university Automated Election System This is an electronic system that manages all election results in an organization. 1.8.2 Operational definition of variables Examination system Hard wares Soft wares Application programs services Students Administrators

Chapter Two 2.0 Literature Review Electronic voting systems for electorates have been in use since the 1960s when punched card systems debuted. The newer optical scan voting systems allow a computer to count a voter's mark on a ballot. DRE voting machines which collect and tabulate votes in a single machine are used by all voters in all elections in Brazil and India, and also on a large scale in the Venezuela and the United States. They have been used on a large scale in the Netherlands but have been decommissioned after public concerns. Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government elections and referendums in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland as well as municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and France. There are also hybrid systems that include an electronic ballot marking device (usually a touch screen system similar to a DRE) or other assistive technology to print a voterverifiable paper ballot, and then use a separate machine for electronic tabulation. Paper-based electronic voting system Sometimes called a "document ballot voting system", paper-based voting systems originated as a system where votes are cast and counted by hand, using paper ballots. With the advent of electronic tabulation came systems where paper cards or sheets could be marked by hand, but counted electronically. These systems included punched card voting, mark sense and later digital pen voting systems. Most recently, these systems can include an Electronic Ballot Marker (EBM) that allows voters to make their selections using an electronic input device, usually a touch screen system similar to a DRE. Systems including a ballot marking device can incorporate different forms of assistive technology. Direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting system A direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machine records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter (typically buttons or a touch screen); that processes data with computer software; and that records voting data and ballot images in memory components. After the election it produces a tabulation of the voting data stored in a removable memory component and as printed copy. The system may also provide a means for transmitting individual ballots or vote totals to a central location for consolidating and reporting results from precincts at the
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central location. These systems use a precinct count method that tabulates ballots at the polling place. They typically tabulate ballots as they are cast and print the results after the close of polling. In 2002, in the United States, the Help America Vote Act mandated that one handicapped accessible voting system be provided per polling place, which most jurisdictions have chosen to satisfy with the use of DRE voting machines, some switching entirely over to DRE. In 2004, 28.9% of the registered voters in the United States used some type of direct recording electronic voting system, up from 7.7% in 1996. {{http://www.kidsvotingoh.org/insidefiles/activities/Voting%20Systems%20Handout3copy.pdf}} In 2004, India had adopted Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for its elections to the Parliament with 380 million voters had cast their ballots using more than a million voting machines. The Indian EVMs are designed and developed by two Government Owned Defense Equipment Manufacturing Units, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). Both systems are identical, and are developed to the specifications of Election Commission of India. The System is a set of two devices running on 6V batteries. One device, the Voting Unit is used by the Voter, and another device called the Control Unit is operated by the Electoral Officer. Both units are connected by a 5 meter cable. The Voting unit has a Blue Button for every candidate, the unit can hold 16 candidates, but up to 4 units can be chained, to accommodate 64 candidates. The Control Units has three buttons on the surface, namely, one button to release a single vote, one button to see the total number of vote cast till now, and one button to close the election process. The result button is hidden and sealed; it cannot be pressed unless the Close button is already pressed. Public network DRE voting system A public network DRE voting system is an election system that uses electronic ballots and transmits vote data from the polling place to another location over a public network. Vote data may be transmitted as individual ballots as they are cast, periodically as batches of ballots throughout the Election Day, or as one batch at the close of voting. This includes Internet voting as well as telephone voting. Public network DRE voting system can utilize either precinct count or central count method. The central count method tabulates ballots from multiple precincts at a central location.
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Internet voting can use remote locations (voting from any Internet capable computer) or can use traditional polling locations with voting booths consisting of Internet connected voting systems. Corporations and organizations routinely use Internet voting to elect officers and Board members and for other proxy elections. Internet voting systems have been used privately in many modern nations and publicly in the United States, the UK, Switzerland and Estonia. In Switzerland, where it is already an established part of local referendums, voters get their passwords to access the ballot through the postal service. Most voters in Estonia can cast their vote in local and parliamentary elections, if they want to, via the Internet, as most of those on the electoral roll have access to an e-voting system, the largest run by any European Union country. It has been made possible because most Estonians carry a national identity card equipped with a computer-readable microchip and it is these cards which they use to get access to the online ballot. All a voter needs is a computer, an electronic card reader, their ID card and its PIN, and they can vote from anywhere in the world. Estonian evotes can only be cast during the days of advance voting. On Election Day itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot.

Chapter three 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1. Introduction This chapter describes the methodology used the study. The research is designed in a descriptive cum analytical framework to analyze the empowerment i.e. decision making capacity in the study area. Descriptive research design will be used for collecting information about respondents views and ideas, their participation, problems, changes etc. Different methods used for data collection are discussed in detail. Observations, structured questionnaire interviews, open-ended interviews and personal experiences are used as primary sources of data. In addition, different documents like books, articles, and publications of different organization will be used for obtaining secondary data. It is applied to obtain information concerning a circumstance with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. It involves a field survey where a researcher involves a population of interest to inquire certain issues concerning the planned study. The objective is to gather data without any manipulation of the research context and it is non-intrusive and involve naturally occurring phenomena, where the researcher has no control over the variables (Saunders, 1997). 3.2 Location of the study The research will be carried in JKUAT Kisii CBD campus. 3.4 Target population The target population will be the student union election body. The study focus will be the processes involved in election. The researchers` objective will be to involve students 50 students, 10 administrators. Sixty participants were anticipated by the study as indicated in the table below:

Category

Target Population
9

%(Percentage)

Students Administrators Total Table 3.1: Target population 3.4 Sampling design

50 10 60

83.3333% 16.66667% 100

Probability sampling design will be used and this will give every member of the target population an opportunity to be included in the final sample. A sample of 130 was hence selected for the study using stratified random sampling procedures. The respondents were obtained from various subgroups using a probability of a half (0.5) implying that either they would respond or not (Saunders 1997) 3.4.1 Sampling method and techniques The study will apply probability sampling method where a stratified random sampling technique was used to select respondents from the target population. This will enable all the respondents in the target population to obtain an equal chance of participating in the study since there was specific selection. The target population will be subdivided into subgroups and respondents will be selected randomly from each population subgroup. 3.4. 2 Sample size Only student union in Kisii CBD will be utilized for this study. This number will enable the researcher to collect detailed data, as she will be able to administer the research instrument personally, with assistance of research assistants. In addition, a sample of one location will make it possible for the researcher to conduct interviews with a number of the respondents within the duration of the research. The study applied stratified random sampling procedures. Stratified sampling procedures were appropriate since the target population was categorized in sub groups called strata and applied simple random sampling procedures to select samples from each subgroup.
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This is based on the argument put forward by Miller in Delbert (1976): When practical considerations prohibit the use of probability sampling, the researcher may seek a representative sample by other means. He looks at a sub-group that is typical of the population as a whole. Observations are then restricted to this sub-group and conclusions from the data obtained are generalized to the total population. A sample size of 130 respondents, of the target population, was achieved by the study as shown by the table below. Category Women Men Youths Total Table 3.2: Sample size 3.6 Data collection Data collection refers to gathering of information relevant to the research study. 3.6.1 Data collection method and techniques Data was obtained by questioning and observation. Data collection technique involved the use of interviews, structured and unstructured questionnaires, participant observation and desk review. The main data collection method used was open-ended questionnaires and closed-ended questionnaires. Population Frequency 50 50 30 130 Ratio 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Sample Size 30 20 10 60

3.6.2 Data collection procedures Primary data presents the actual data that was obtained for the purpose of the research study from the answered questionnaires, interviews and observed facts. Primary data was collected and analyzed to help in answering the research questions. Collection of secondary data was achieved through desk research, which was from internal or external sources. The external sources included journals, reports and books.
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3.7 Pilot study 3.7.1 Validity Content validity of the instruments will be determined by expert judgments as supported Fraenkel and (Warren, 2000) and (Huck, 2000). The instruments will be scrutinized by my supervisor to judge the items on appropriateness of content, and to determine all the possible areas that needed modification so achieve the objectives of the study. The experts determined whether the items in questionnaires and interview guides adequately represented all the areas that needed to investigated. In addition, the researcher also ensured validity of the collected data administering the interview guides personally. 3.7.2 Reliability On reliability of the research instruments, the questionnaire will also be pilot-tested. The split-half procedure will be used to test the reliability of the students and lecturers questionnaires after the pilot testing. This procedure will be chosen over other methods such as Kuder-Richardson approaches for its simplicity (Fraenkel and Warren, 2000:75; Huck, 2000:66).

3.8 Logical and Ethical issues Permission to conduct the study research will be sought from the chief Sengera location, and relevant authorities, including the provincial administration. Participation will voluntary. It will clearly be explained to participants that the purpose of the research was to collect data and give recommendations that would be used to help administration deal with poverty problem, the eventual aim being to benefit the community as a whole. The researcher will
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give a full disclosure of the study objective and how the research process will be performed. High level of data privacy and confidentiality will be maintained and the findings were only be used for academic purpose. The authors presented a letter of request to the management and were allowed to perform the study. Thus willing participants were required to make informed decisions While carrying out this study, cognizance was taken of the fact that this study would be investigating very sensitive issues that were likely to elicit hostility, insecurity or concealment of the real data required from the participants. Participants were informed of the nature of the study and allowed to choose whether to participate or not. There is wide consensus among social scientists that research involving human participants should be performed with the informed consent of the participants (Nachmias and Nachmias, 1996). The researcher therefore ensured that participants knew that their involvement was voluntary at all times. A thorough explanation was given in advance in relation to benefits, rights and dangers involved with their participation. Right to privacy refers to freedom of the individual to pick and choose for him or herself the time and circumstances under which to participate in the research. It also involves the extent to which personal attitudes, beliefs, behavior and opinions are to be shared with or withheld from others during and after completion of the study. Asking participants not to write their names on the questionnaires during the research also helps ensure anonymity. A participant is considered anonymous when the researcher or other person cannot identify particular information with a particular participant. While preparing for data collection and analysis, the researcher maintained anonymity by separating information such as code numbers from the data itself. During the research, participants were requested not to write their names on the questionnaires. Participants were informed and assured that the information they provided would be treated
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as confidential. In cases where the researcher will be able to identify a particular participants information, she would not reveal it publicly. Statements on confidentiality were written on the questionnaires, and verbally communicated during interviews and questionnaire administration. Ethical issues arise from the kind of problems that social scientist investigates and the methods used to obtain valid and reliable data. Ethical considerations are pertinent to this study because of the nature of the phenomena, the methods of data collection and he kind of persons serving as research participants i.e administrators, lectures and workers possible involved in service delivery. 3.8 Data Analysis procedures The researcher will obtain service delivery related records from the previous year. The aim is to gain insight into the extent of service delivery, and check on the corrective measures to employ by the administrators to curb the problem. Documents to be analyzed will include admission registers usually kept by the registrar of students; policy documents containing college admission and registration rules procedures; official admission letters to students and other records in the registrars office relating to students and registration .information gained through document analysis will be used to supplement data gained through interviews and questionnaires. Data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was analyzed by frequency tables and percentages .Frequency tables represent the most commonly used method in presenting data in descriptive research (Kathuri and Pals, 1993:117). Associations between selected variables were tested using chi square. Qualitative data was evaluated, classified into logical thematic categories based on the objectives and then coded .Analysis of qualitative data collected using interviews and document analysis will be an ongoing process where emerging themes will be categorized
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based on the research questions. As the research progresses, some of the questions will be refined while new ones will be formulated to fill in the research gaps detected .Any questions that may arise during categorization will also be included. In the early stages of fieldwork data collection, data analysis will involve developing simple categories based on the characteristics of respondents and the events that appeared in the research context. Field notes pertaining to responses from each group will be field and coded under the appropriate classification .As the fieldwork progress, the researcher will use what he learns to refine, and sometimes redefine the categories of date. After each refinement, the researcher will review and re-fill field notes. A running summary will be drawn from the field notes n daily basis .The analysis of the structured items will be done by using the spreadsheets (Excel) program. Unstructured items will be analyzed manually along major concepts and themes ,and the results will be presented using descriptive statistics .Conclusions will be drawn from the analysis of data , leading to recommendations and suggestions for further improvement of service delivery measures put in place.

3.9 Data processing procedures Before the actual data analysis, the gathered data will be validated, edited and then coded. Validation process, the questionnaires will be checked to determine whether an accurate number acceptable sample is obtained in terms of proportions of he issued questionnaires. Questionnaires will also be checked for completeness. Information from interview guides expected to be straight forward since the questions had be validated in relation to content

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since the researcher will ensure relevance during administration and discussion with respondents. During editing, the questionnaires will be scrutinized to check whether there were errors omissions, adequate information and legibility and whether the responses were relevant. Questionnaires not found useful will be discarded. Third step in data processing will involve coding. After going through all the collected questionnaires, uniform categories of responses will be identified, classified and fed appropriate categories in a computer worksheet using Microsoft Excel 2003. According to Luck (1992.65), in study it is imperative that an appropriate analytical technique adopted so as to bring out the quantitative meaning of the data.

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