Public Lecture: Effective Management of Electoral Processes and Information: Roles and Responsibilities of INEC, Political Parties, Press and other Stakeholders
Institute of Information Management (IIM)-Africa in collaboration with Records and Information Management Awareness (RIMA) Foundation, has scheduled a one-day public lecture on elections and information management.
According to Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president and chairman Governing Council of IIM-Africa, the Public Lecture aims to discuss issues surrounding “Effective Management of Electoral Processes and Information: Roles and Responsibilities of INEC, Political Parties, Press and other Stakeholders”.
Oyewole, “Democracy is government by citizens, and elections are the tool which is used across the democratic world to ensure that citizens are in control of their political system. This means that citizens should be at the heart of any election, and that the absolute priority of any election process and management should be to ensure that elections are organised in such a way as to optimise the engagement, participation, satisfaction, trust, and perceived legitimacy of citizens”.
He said that successful management of elections is crucial to a valid outcome of the democratic process.
According to him, “And the effective management of Information about the processes is also critical. Truly democratic elections often stand and fall with the quality of the electoral management in term of process and information. There is no one size fits all approach for successful electoral process and information management”.
However, he noted that, election management is mainly about handling the organisation, logistics and infrastructure of elections.
“Breaking it down, election process and information management is predominantly tackling the challenge of voter registration, guaranteeing a transparent and secure electoral process, carrying out a flawless authentication of voters, providing the necessary facilities, instruments and materials for elections and securing a faultless and adequate counting of the votes and presentation of results.
Objectives of the lecture, Oyewole said, include, “Overcoming electoral challenges; improving elections and guaranteeing a secure, transparent and smooth running of elections; Identifying and acquainting various stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities; Supporting the delivery of successful elections in the Country and promoting trust in the electoral system and citizens’ involvement in electoral democracy.
Others are, Promoting transparency in the dissemination of information and results and To foster and improve citizens engagement.
The IIM-Africa Chairman added that the initiative is expected to sensitize and educate various stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities in putting citizens at the heart of the electoral process and maximising their engagement and their satisfaction.
He said the discussion is expected to help bring out solutions to address low turnout, cynicism, distrust and perceived legitimacy issues at a time when most democratic societies face problems with citizens’ engagement and low democratic satisfaction, the public lecture is expected to play a key role to promoting trust in the electoral system and citizens’ involvement in electoral democracy”.