DRC activists warn over voting machines after U.S. mid-term glitches

A pro-democracy activist group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, have cautioned the elections body, CENI, against the planned use of electronic voting machines going into the December 23 polls.

The group, Lucha RDC, referenced reports that voting machines in parts of the United States had broken down and left voters stranded and worried.

Lucha wrote on a tweet by a US reporter, Kira Lerner, “2018 midterm elections in the United States: voting machines have caused serious problems.

“Thousands of people could not vote, had to wait several hours, or complain that their vote was changed by these machines.” The reporter had said voters in parts of southeastern U.S. encountered issues with the machines.

DRC’s elections body has strongly defended the move to use voting machines instead of the traditional ballot papers. Opposition parties continue to resist the machines whiles CENI and government insist the concerns are not well grounded.

Many observers have expressed worry over the Congo situation stressing that with about 100,000 such machines to be deployed, there was the need for prior wide-scale testing.

Voters will elect a successor to Joseph Kabila who accepted to step down in August this year. His party has picked former Interior Minister, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as candidate. Main opposition candidates are working around fielding a common candidate.

Élections de #Midterm2018 aux Etats-Unis: des machines à voter ont causé de sérieux problèmes. Des milliers de gens n’ont pas pu voter, ont dû attendre plusieurs heures, ou se plaignent que leur vote a été changé par ces machines. CNangaa et sa cenirdc: obstinez-vous bien ! https://t.co/anNPAWzRFk

— LUCHA (@luchaRDC) November 7, 2018