Artificial Intelligence-based SMS Voting in Afghanistan: Past and Future Prospects

Abstract

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, among the many open questions about the country's future is whether elections will ever be held again. If so, the newly re-christened Islamic Emirate can learn from the mistakes of its predecessor, the Islamic Republic, in terms of how to conduct an election. The previous government was either unable or unwilling to deal with the widespread fraud and corruption that marred its elections and, over the course of two decades, eroded Afghan public trust in the electoral process. What the Islamic Republic could have done to promote accountability and transparency in voting, and what the Islamic Emirate could still do in the future, is to make use of modern information communication technology. Mobile voting applications or portable voting devices were and will continue to be unaffordable, inaccessible and probably alien to many Afghan households, but not SMS voting. Implementing an artificial intelligence-based SMS voting system would increase security, privacy, participation - especially of women - and transparency, all the while making use of two realities in Afghanistan. First, the vast majority of Afghans own mobile phones and are familiar with texting. Second, even old mobile devices with GSM mobile coverage would be sufficient for casting a digital ballot.