Some students of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) in the Ashanti Region have invented a special innovative to prevent multiple voting during election.
The smart ballot box, designed by members of the robotics club of the school prevents the same voter from voting more than once, and also does automatic ballot paper counting to prevent stashing of ballot papers after voting.
The students explained that the smart ballot box has two compartments; the part that takes the paper from the voter and the box itself.
The paper compartment has a paper roller made with some PVC pipes, a motor gear, and a sensor to detect the voter’s closeness to the box, and it is designed to take one paper at a time.
When the voter is about 40centimeters to the ballot box, the paper compartment is activated to allow the voter to cast his ballot. A red light is shown to alert the voter that the system is ready.
When the voter places the paper on the space provided, the system will automatically take the paper from the voter and drop it into the box and count it as one and displays the total number of ballots in the box on a screen for public viewing.
The Head of the Robotics Club, Solomon Nchor, in a blog post, said he believes the project will solve challenges associated with voting processes in Ghana and the world at large.
