Tag Archives: elections

Colombia to use biometric voter registration for 2014 elections

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Colombia has secured financing to implement a biometric registry for the country’s upcoming 2014 elections. Reported in ColombiaReports.com, fraud has been an issue in the past and is what has led the country to biometric verification for voters. In 2011, many investigations were launched following reports of election fraud and in it was discovered that 4 million dead voters wrongfully existed in the registry. “We have agreed that on this matter there will be no more setbacks and … in

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Smartmatic appoints Marco Hubert as president of EMEA operations

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Smartmatic has announced the appointment of Marco Huberts as its new President of its European, Middle East and African operations (EMEA). “It’s a great pleasure for me to welcome Marco to our management team. His experience and leadership will help our growth in these markets, helping forward-thinking electoral commissions to embrace projects toward more transparent, more efficient and more secure elections”, Antonio Mugica, CEO of Smartmatic said. Hubert will be tasked broadly with undertaking the responsibility of developing Smartmatic’s opportunities throughout EMEA,

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Georgia considers biometric voter registration

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Georgia is currently considering the use of biometrics voter registration for its 2014 elections. Reported in DFwatch.com, a cross-faction group presented a proposalin parliament regarding a new biometric election system, including their recommendations for managing the republic’s voter list. Currently, the biometric data of 750,000 citizens exist in state databases, and the current total population in the republic is nearly 4.7 million. According to the DFwatch report, the group which presented the proposal for a biometric system suggested collecting the

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Tanzanian Government endorses NEC plans for biometric electoral system

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The Tanzanian government has officially endorsed the National Electoral Commission’s plans to use a biometric electoral system for the country’s upcoming elections in 2015. Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, NEC chairman Damian Lubuva made comments suggesting the commission is planning to float tenders for the acquisition earlier this week. Many countries are implementing or have already used biometric systems for elections, and in particular, both Kenya and Ghana have recently completed elections using biometric verification devices. Kenya’s election was plagued by

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Tanzania looks to implement biometric system for 2015 election

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Tanzania’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) has confirmed that plans are in place to use a biometric electoral system for the country’s upcoming 2015 elections. According to a report in NZweek, NEC chairman Damian Lubuva said the commission is planning to float tenders for the acquisition of the system, and has said that the NEC will invite donors to fund the procurement and installation of the system. Deflecting criticism that the government has not been transparent in this decision-making, Lubuva said:

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Coalition calls for biometric system in Nigerian election

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The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform in Nigeria has demanded the adoption of biometrics for the 2015 elections in the country, following a meeting in the nation’s capital earlier this week. The meeting was well-attended, with development experts from sub-Saharan Africa in attendance, and biometrics was widely identified as one of the safest measures for ensuring a transparent electoral process. Reported in Channelstv.com, a Councillor from the Kenyan Embassy, Michael Miriti noted that although the biometric system used in

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Malawi abandons biometric voter registration for 2014 elections

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Despite prior announcements, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) will not use biometric voter registration for its 2014 elections. Reported in StarAfrica.com, MEC Chief Elections Officer Willie Kalonga said that although the system won’t be used for the upcoming elections, the concept hasn’t altogether been thrown out. “We have resolved that the implementation of the biometric system be used in the 2019 elections,” Kalonga said. According to the StarAfrica.com report, the decision was made having taken into consideration various concerns and

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Election Commission of Pakistan introduces biometrics ahead of election

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The Election Commission of Pakistan is in the midst of introducing a biometric and result management system for the country’s upcoming elections. Reported in the Pakistan Observer, an unnamed regional election commissioner said that the commission will use biometric technology to verify voters. Thumb impressions of the voter in the Nadra database will provide the basis for comparison. Election staff are currently being trained on the new system. Reported previously in BIometricUpdate.com, Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf directed Nadra to issue

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Finger-pointing begins over biometric device failures in Kenyan election

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The South African company that provided Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with the biometric devices used in the country’s presidential elections earlier this month says it can’t be blamed for a failure by election officers to use the gadgets properly. Reported in The Standard, this news comes as faulty biometric devices caused massive delays and problems during the March 4 elections.  Face Technologies is the company that provided the biometric identification machines. Previously reported in BiometricUpdate.com, biometric verification

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Ghanaian public workers appeal to Ministry of Finance to expand physical biometric registration centers

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Some public workers in Ghana have appealed to the Ministry of Finance to open biometric registration offices in other regions of the country. Currently, as reported in the Ghana News Agency, the only registration center is located in the Ministry of Finance in Accra, which means a lot of travel for those outside the country’s capital. In the interim, suggest the public workers, the government should increase the number of computers and workers at the existing registration center. “I wonder

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