Election Commission of Pakistan introduces biometrics ahead of election

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 computerized national identity cards to the unregistered population and to ensure that no eligible voters are disenfranchised in the country’s upcoming elections, set to take place in May.

Last week, Nadra Chairman, Tariq Malik indicated that the lists would be handed over in two days, as data collection is now complete. The chairman continued to say that Nadra was committed to the Electoral Commission to ensure a democratic election process.

There are 86 million registered voters in the country and during data collection, Nadra was issuing as many as 15,000 computerized ID cards daily. 

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 long lines, blamed on the biometric verification machines being used.  

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.

 

Article Topics

civil ID  |  elections  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identification  |  verification