ZIMBABWE has adopted the biometric voting registration (BVR) system, as part of advancements in information communication technologies (ICTs), in a move anticipated to ensure the security of elections, whose handling has always been a source of contestation.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has urged citizens to embrace the development and called on all eligible voters to ensure their names would be on the new biometric voters’ roll.
Full adoption of the BVR, however, might take longer, as Zec is still to acquire the needed $55 million for the implementation of the whole project, something unlikely to happen before 2018, according to observers.
The BVR system will capture the voter’s image and fingerprints, as part of core features of identification. A voter will be registered to vote at just one, specific polling station.
ICT expert, Samuel Chindaro hailed the adoption of the BVR system, but said there were a lot of loopholes that needed to be plugged to ensure the new system’s smooth running.
“The fact that the introduction of the system has been done after calls from the opposition and other experts, it should boost the credibility of Zec, which has responded positively to these calls,” he said.
Chindaro noted that implementing the new system required careful management of risks, if it was to achieve its desired goals.
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“The frequency at which ICT projects run late and over-budget, makes it clear that Zimbabwe’s BVR project is at a high risk of failure if it’s not adequately planned,” he said.
“Fundamental to the success of such a project is an appreciation of the procurement and running costs, and, thereafter, the sustainability of the technology,”
Benin, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, among others, are already using the system.
Chindaro said there was need for adequate time to test the system before the elections to avoid hiccups.
“Ideally, the preparations for introduction of advanced technology in elections should start soon after the preceding elections, in order to maximise the time for system testing, procedural development, training and so on,” he said.
“Procurement of election materials is among the most costly part of the electoral process and any delay or shortfall in the procurement or distribution of materials could have serious implications on the rest of the electoral schedule.”
Chindaro noted that the biggest challenge was about ensuring sustainable, appropriate, cost-effective and transparent use of technology given Zimbabwe’s fragile political environment.
Ideally, he said, the BVR should build credibility by improving the efficiency of the electoral process.
However, the system has come under scrutiny following some irregularities associated with fingerprints that failed to work on election day during presidential elections as well as technical issues related to power supply in Nigeria.
In 2012, Ghana had to extend voting by a day after the BVR kits failed to work, while other countries like Malawi and Somalia experienced difficulties too.
An IT expert, who declined to be named, said the new system would only come to fruition after an intensive nationwide campaign.
“We need to consider the technicalities like how people are likely to familiarise with the system because this is a new system and we are already behind time in terms of starting awareness campaigns,” he said.
MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu said his party welcomed the adoption of the new voting technology, but his concerns were on the security of the software and hardware, which he said could be manipulated to rig elections.
“Zec has already announced that there will be biometric voter registration commencing around May 2017, but that there will be no biometric voting in the 2018 elections. As the MDC, we welcome biometric voter registration as long as the process is conducted fairly, transparently and with total and absolute accountability,” he said.
“Of course, there is need to ensure that biometric voter registration will not be manipulated to give an unfair advantage to any political party, particularly the ruling Zanu PF party.”
Election Resource Centre director, Tawanda Chimhini said technology had its loopholes, hence, there was need for intensive voter education to avoid irregularities.
“The adoption of the BVR is an advantage in that the system means a credible registration process. This time, it will be difficult to manipulate someone’s face and fingerprints, as compared to a situation, where a person would be registered after providing an ID number. The advantage is beyond duplicate,” he said.
“In as much as technology is good, the downside in relation to registration is the question of information. You need extensive voter education.”
To successfully embrace e-voting, Zimbabwe needs to learn from successful projects held in Estonia and Switzerland a few years ago.
According to Alexander Treshchel, who led a Council of Europe-funded team researching e-voting in Estonia, the country’s success story was remarkable, owing to its political past.
In both Estonia and Switzerland, e-voting was introduced in part to tackle the problem of a decline in turnout, described by Trechsel as “one of the major problems of democracy”.
Although the two countries differ greatly in their political history and structure, both states had a modern electoral administration, high levels of internet penetration and political will, which Trechsel said made them fertile ground for e-voting.
Voters can now use a card — or also a mobile phone ID in Estonia — to cast their ballot over a set period of time.
Estonia rolled out e-voting in 2005 and by 2009, nearly a quarter of all votes cast were online, while the canton of Geneva in Switzerland says e-voting is now stable at around 20%, a decade after the first binding e-votes were cast.
In Estonia, Trechsel found that around 16% of e-voters said they probably would not have voted had internet voting been unavailable.
