/ 23 June 1999

SADC WANTS TECH TRANSFER FOR ELECTIONS

IN a diplomatic drive to promote transparency in regional elections, the Southern African Development Community’s Electoral Commission’s Forum is exploring the possibility of sharing technology to ensure a more efficient, open delivery of results in the 14 member states. Inspired by the high-tech display in the 2 June South African elections, where the Independent Electoral Commission’s Results Centre brought an hourly update of vote patterns across the country to hundreds of media, observer groups and the public via giant electronic screens, the ECF has discussed the issue of “technology transfer” from one country to the other, according to a senior executive member.