ZEC secures new voting equipment ahead of 2018 polls
Main News Technology

ZEC secures new voting equipment ahead of 2018 polls

biometric voter registration

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will next month complete the acquisition of biometric voter registration (BVR) equipment ahead of a nationwide rollout of fresh voter registration in March.The election management body has already acquired the US$30 million required to introduce BVR technology in preparation for next year’s general election.

Government and the United Nations Development Programme are financing purchase of the equipment. Upon registration, the BVR kits will capture a voter’s identity particulars and proof of residence, an individual’s biometrics that include fingerprints and digital image of the face.

The digital print of the voter’s face will be reproduced on the voters’ roll, enabling the polling officer to positively identify the voter upon presentation of identity particulars by the prospective voter on voting day.

The system will be equipped with technology that stops registration at more than one station through deregistering a voter with similar fingerprints and facial features as another registered at a different station.

Biometric systems are intended to ensure a clean register while eliminating multiple voting. ZEC is now mandated by the Constitution to register new voters as well as manage the voters’ roll, a duty that previously was handled by the Registrar General’s office.

Last year, ZEC flighted a tender inviting local and international technology firms with the capacity to supply BVR kits to bid for the multi-million dollar contract.

The tenders will close on this Tuesday before vetting begins on Wednesday. ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau told The Sunday Mail last week that voter registration will begin early March.

Said Justice Makarau: “As you may be aware we have already flighted a tender inviting vendors to supply us with the BVR kits that we will use to register voters.

“The specifications are that the kits should be able to capture an individual’s biometric including one’s digital picture and finger prints. “The tender closes on 17 January and will be opened the following day in the presence of all the stakeholders whom we have invited to observe the process.

“We will then begin the process of selecting individual vendors who will then be invited to perform demonstrations of their equipment, again in front of all stakeholders.

“After that process we will then settle on one specific vendor who will then be contracted to supply us with the kits ahead of the beginning of registration of voters early March.

“At the moment we do not know how many vendors have responded to the call, given that the process is being conducted digitally and we can only know who has responded when bidding closes.

“But remain confident that there is quite a lot of interest out there.”

Zec has already sent its staff on study tours to countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda, among others, to study how the system has been used in there.

Zec is currently aligning the country’s electoral atmosphere to changes made through the new Constitution and amendments to the Electoral act.

The overhauls will also witness the introduction of polling station based voting in all constituencies across the country. Polling station based voting has been trialed in several by-elections that have been conducted since the last general election.

Under the system, individual polling stations will administer not more than 1 500 voters – a measure introduced to streamline the voting process by reducing long queues on voting day.

Between 800 and 1 500 voters will be assigned to a specific polling station within their ward where they will cast their ballots. In previous elections, individual stations had a voters’ roll catering for an entire constituency, which at times had over 20 000 voters.

Currently, the ward-based voting system is widely used during elections. Polling station-based voting is provided for under Section 22A of the Amended Electoral Act.

Zimbabwe will have to register over 6,4 million voters who are currently on the country’s voter’s roll. In the past, ZEC has been accused by opposition parties of running dirty elections. These changes are set to put all that to rest.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *