LESSONS ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ELECTIONS from voter list, IP protected system social media posts or pages, and metadata. 18 Various technologies can be used to obtain digital evidence from devices such as voter identification kits, for example, to locate where and when the device was used. The increasing use of digital evidence offers new opportunities and challenges, including how to ensure its accuracy and authenticity. While the use of digital evidence such as smartphone photographs of results form can be helpful for electoral stakeholders who wish to document violations or irregularities, this can present new challenges for investigators in corroborating violations, and for courts that need to determine the authenticity of this evidence in a short timeframe. A different problem faces stakeholders who wish to bring complaints about technology platforms used by an EMB (such as an electronic results tabulation system) that relies on complex program code. Unless there has been extensive training of candidate agents and lawyers, and unless there is sufficient transparency in the use of the specific election technology, electoral contestants may lack the technical expertise to bring wellfounded complaints or conversely for EMBs to respond to frivolous complaints that seek to sow doubt in the electoral process or result. Some election courts have regulated the use of digital evidence in their rules of procedure (for example, the Philippines Senate Election Tribunal) and some courts have incorporated digital evidence as part of their rules of evidence or because their country’s statute on evidence, while not specific to elections, applies to election proceedings. Digital evidence is increasingly relied upon in court. For instance, the International Criminal Court has shifted away from witness testimony in favor of digital documentary evidence. 19 However, determining the veracity of such evidence can be challenging. The United Nations Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open-Source Investigations states that, “One of the greatest challenges…is dealing with the discovery and verification of relevant material within an increasing volume of online information, especially photographs and videos captured on smartphones and other mobile devices, some of which may be compromised or misattributed.” 20 Courts and tribunals have also faced complexity in gathering and interpreting digital forensics and have reached different interpretations on what counts as valid forensics or how discovery has to be provided (in terms of format, reasonableness of request, etc.). In Kenya, the scrutiny of results forms ordered by the Supreme Court in the 2017 elections was managed by the Deputy Registrar who had not received specific training on the technology used to scan and transmit results forms. But in preparation for the 2022, the Judicial Committee on Elections (JCE) conducted a series of training for all judicial actors on election voting and counting procedure, the voting identification, and the results transmission system. In Curling v. Raffensperger, the court in the U.S. State of Georgia relied on a series of ICT expert testimonies relating to the disputed 2020 elections, but investigative measures undertaken by experts may carry their own challenges, such as impartiality of the expertise. 21 Finally, analysis of the jurisprudence also shows that courts have adopted very different types of remedies, with some courts taking into consideration the time needed for the EMB to implement required changes in election technology. Ultimately, digital evidence has been interpreted Council of Europe Guidelines on Electronic Evidence in Civil and Administrative Proceedings. The Council of Europe guidelines on electronic evidence explain that this is a broad definition of “electronic evidence.” It may take the form of text, video, photographs or audio recordings. Data may originate from different carriers or access methods, such as mobile phones, webpages, onboard computers or GPS recorders, including data stored in a storage space outside the party’s own control. Electronic messages (e-mail) are a typical example of electronic evidence, as they originate from an electronic device (computer or computer-like device) and include relevant metadata. 19 PILPG Expert Roundtable: Civil Society Documentation, Use of Digital Evidence in International Courts (January 21, 2022). 20 United Nations, on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations, 2020. Foreword. 21 U.S. State of Georgia, Curling v. Raffensperger. 18 11