1. Introduction
In a previous article published by the author, “Biometrics in Elections” was
discussed, with emphasis on how this technology works. In this follow–up article
this issue is further explored taking into account the current status of the
voters’ roll and current economic and social environment in Zimbabwe. The
feasibility of introducing “Biometrics in Elections” is looked into, taking into account the costs involved and precedence from other countries. The
issue of voter identification at polling stations and problems arising from the
current process will be explored. Given the history of electoral problems and
disputes which have tragically led to loss of lives in Zimbabwe, it is argued
that biometrics can and should be implemented to ensure credible elections.
2. Background
The call for the employment of
technology in Zimbabwe for both voter registration and facilitation of the
electoral process is not entirely new.
Masvingo MP, Mr Tongai Matutu called for the introduction of biometrics,
lodging a motion in Parliament to this
effect in 2010. The issue was raised again in March 2012 by Mr Pishai Muchauraya,
who stated that though it had been addressed with Justice and Legal Affairs
Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, nothing concrete had materialised. In April 2012,
the Minister of ICT, Nelson Chamisa also called for the adoption of a digital
biometric voters roll. The author of this article also brought this issue to
the limelight in a publication in July 2012 in which the basics behind Biometrics
Technology were explored. Most recently calls led by Misihairabwi-Mushonga, to
implement an ‘on-line voters’ registration’ have been rejected by the Registrar
General who contends that this does not provide adequate checks as required in Section
24 of the Electoral Act. In this article the case for using biometrics for
elections in Zimbabwe is put forward, with particular emphasis on producing a
clean and credible voters’ roll for the upcoming elections and the referendum. The
feasibility of doing so in the current environment will be tabled.
3.
Importance
of Voters Roll
The voters’ roll is of paramount
importance for the running of any democratic election, and as such needs to be
kept accurate and up to date. To hold credible elections it is imperative to
have credible voter registration. A bloated or inaccurate voters’ register
always has a negative effect on the electoral process. The voter registration
framework and processes must be designed to allow only eligible persons to
register as voters. Therefore the voters’ roll has a direct influence on the
results of any poll, as only those on the roll are allowed to vote. The quality
of the voters’ role is a crucial factor in determining the validity and
legitimacy of election results and can be a deciding factor on the outcome of
elections
A deficient voters' roll will
disenfranchise those entitled to vote and an inflated roll with duplicate
entries, ‘ghost voters’ and names of people who have migrated, exposes itself
to electoral fraud, for example through ballot stuffing and manipulation of numbers without raising an obvious alarm. It can
also affect the delimitation of constituencies by giving wrong indications of
the population within each constituency – directly impacting on and influencing
the election of MPs. It is therefore vital that measures be put in place to
ensure an accurate voters’ roll before conducting any elections in Zimbabwe. It
can make or break the democratic process and therefore the embracing of any
technology which can improve this process is important.
4. The State of Zimbabwe
The state of the voters’ roll has
historically been controversial in the past elections, which have been held in
Zimbabwe. It has emerged as a bone of contention each time the country has
prepared for elections, and the anticipated 2013 elections are not an
exception. Participants in elections have raised the issue of ghost voters;
with names of deceased persons, young people below the eligible voting age appearing
in the voter’s roll. Furthermore, names and addresses of completely non-existent
voters have been known to feature on the roll. Duplication of names in
different constituents has also been raised as a contentious issue, with the high-profile
case of MP Mr Pishai Muchauraya whose name appeared in two constituencies:
Makoni South and Makoni Central, in the 2008 voters roll being a prominent
example. [Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) Report, 2010].
Last Name First Name
Sex DOB National ID Block Constituency Address
1
CHAUKE ELVIS PRESLEY M 29/01/1964
08-316040-Y-54 020608 BULAWAYO SOUTH 101 DERBY ROAD, BELLEVUE, BULAWAYO
CHAUKE ELVIS PRESLEY M 29/01/1964
08-316040-Y-54 010179 HWANGE CENTRAL 14A HOSPITAL RD HWANGE
2
AARON FUNGAI F 10/10/1943
67-056772-V-03 050622 MASVINGO WEST SPRINGSPRUIT FARM MASHAVA MASVINGO
AARON FUNGAI F 10/10/1943
67-056772-V-03 031103 MBERENGWA NORTH VIL MSINDO HM KWATA CH MAZIOFA
MBERENGWA
3
AKIMU BONFACE M 03/11/1982
43-120751-F-43 010815 MAZOWE SOUTH HEYSHOTT FARM VILL GLENDALE MAZOWE
AKIMU BONFACE M 03/11/1982
43-120751-F-43 170147 MUREHWA WEST KADENGE VIL HDM MUSHANINGA CH
MANGWENDE
4
BALENI LUKA M 16/03/1966
29-105633-G-38 050129 GWERU URBAN 7-5TH STR GWERU
BALENI LUKA M 16/03/1966
29-105633-G-38 050129 MKOBA 7-5TH STR GWERU
5
BITI ANDREW M 20/12/1986
47-163971-K-47 410147 MUREHWA WEST VIL MUSHAYI CH MANGWENDE MUREHWA
BITI ANDREW M 20/12/1986
47-163971-K-47 410147 HWANGE WEST VIL MUSHAYI CH MANGWENDE MUREHWA
6
RWAFA AGIFA F 06/04/1986
18-108786-M-07 010718 CHIKOMBA EAST MAZOKERA TRADING STORE QUARTERS
SADZA G/
RWAFA AGIFA F 06/04/1986
18-108786-M-07 010718 BUHERA WEST MAZOKERA TRADING STORE QUARTERS SADZA
G/
7
NAHORO NYARAI F 10/04/1976
27-131585-C-27 012824 MHONDORO NGEZI ZVIHWATI VIL CH NYIKA KADOMA
NAHORO NYARAI F 10/04/1976
27-131585-C-27 012824 MHONDORO NGEZI ZVIHWATI VIL CH NYIKA KADOMA
Note
1 to 3 Same ID and Name -
different address in a different constituency = Duplicate
4 to 6 Same ID, Name and
Address in a different constituency with the Same Block number indicating the
whole Block is duplicated in a wrong Constituency = Copy
7 Same
ID, Name and Address in the SAME Constituency with the Same Block number where
the whole file on the CD supplied is mis-named = Copy
The state of the Zimbabwe voters’
roll as of October 2010 was described as a complete shambles. Reports produced by the ZESN based on the
roll supplied by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) at that time revealed that
there had been an increase of 366,550 in the number of voters from the roll
used in the 2008 harmonised elections. Debatable figures of 49,239 new voters
over the age of 50 with 16,033 of these over the age of 70 and with 1,488 over
the age of 100 were presented in the report.
According to the report in Mount Darwin East there were 118 registered
voters over 100 years old, with a significant number having the same date of
birth (01.01.1901). With Wikipedia documenting only 3
men and 3 women aged 108 and above in Zimbabwe as of 2012, the reader is
invited to make a verdict on the authenticity of the above figures.
A number of registered voters were either under age or very young children (228). The report also revealed that 182 564 people were duplicated in the same or more than one constituency. The ZESN report showed that 27% of voters registered in the voters’ roll were deceased, with the case of David Stevens, who was widely reported in Zimbabwean Newspapers as the first victim of the land redistribution programme being highlighted. It is not clear as to how many people who are in the Diaspora (and not allowed to vote) are still on the voters roll, but
an educated guess should put this figure into millions!
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_World%27s_Oldest_People/Oldest_%28known%29_living_people_per_countr].
A number of registered voters were either under age or very young children (228). The report also revealed that 182 564 people were duplicated in the same or more than one constituency. The ZESN report showed that 27% of voters registered in the voters’ roll were deceased, with the case of David Stevens, who was widely reported in Zimbabwean Newspapers as the first victim of the land redistribution programme being highlighted. It is not clear as to how many people who are in the Diaspora (and not allowed to vote
According to the Registrar
General there were 5 612 464 registered voters by December 2007, but the number
rose to 5 934 768 by February the following year. This number is quoted to have
gone down to 5,589 355 by November 2012 (Herald: 20/12/2012). These figures are also debatable according to
a report produced by the South African Institute of Race Relations, which
analysed the roll as it stood in 2010
and concluded that taking into account Zimbabwe’s population, age-range and
levels of voters’ registration elsewhere, the voters roll should consist of a
maximum of 3.2 Million people (www.sairr.org.za).
Even though these figures may not
be entirely accurate and up-to-date, the above reports and statistics give
indications that the current state of the voters’ roll does not provide a firm
foundation for conducting credible elections. The roll provides a recipe for possible
chaos post-elections with results likely to be disputed by any losing
candidates, as happened in the past.
5. Biometrics
Elections in Africa and other Developing
Countries
The proposal for adopting
technology has not just been plucked out of the air without considering any
precedence. Biometric technology has been used successfully in a number of countries
across the world, and in particular Africa .
In 2005, "La Commission
Electorale Indépendante" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) used
biometric technology to register more than 25 million voters ahead of the
country's first democratic elections in four decades. In Nigeria , some
65 million people had their pictures taken and fingerprints scanned and the
system was used in presidential and legislative elections in 2011. Ghana
registered more than 12 million voters using biometrics in 2012. In Kenya , after
protracted disputes over procurement, 15,000 biometric registration kits have
arrived ahead of the elections scheduled for March 2013. Sierra Leone ’s
national biometric voter registration was carried out over a 3-month period in
2012, registering over 2.5 million people to vote across the country.
Biometric voter registration in Kenya (credit: The People)
Other African countries such as
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burkina
Faso , Tanzania ,
Zambia , Mozambique , Malawi ,
Rwanda , Senegal , Cameroon ,
Somaliland and Uganda
have also turned to technology to improve the accuracy of their voter registers.
Zimbabwe ’s neighbour, Zambia
has adopted a biometric voters’ roll and is receiving aid from the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide the technology.
Biometric voting machine at a Ghanaian polling station (credit: Gabriela Barnuevo)
Almost half a million electronic
voting machines were in action in Brazil's municipal elections in 2012. In a
pilot program, around 7.5 million of 140 million Brazilian voters were using
fingerprint-based biometric machines. Brazil ’s Federal Election Court (“Tribunal
Superior Eleitoral – TSE”) wants every voter in the country to use biometric
machines by 2018. Currently, the world's largest biometric identity exercise,
is taking place in India, and is reported to be well on its way to reaching its
target of half the country's population.
6. Biometrics for
Voter Registration
Biometrics has been used in civil
and voter registration around the world for more than a decade with the aim to limit fraud and enhance voter
registration. In biometrics terms the
equivalent of registering eligible voters is enrolment, and the resultant
voters’ register/roll is equivalent to a database.
The use of biometrics in voter
registration can ensure that no persons are excluded. The voter registration
process should include all adult eligible citizens, including the poor or
homeless people, or residents of remote areas. With the versatility and
mobility of modern biometric equipment, inclusion of all eligible citizens can
be assured. It can go a long way in ensuring that appropriate registration
facilities are available to those for whom access to traditional registration
methods may be more difficult. Certain groups of people can easily be excluded
from the voting process by restrictions such long distances to registrations
centres. For example, this can have adverse effects on women and the disabled, who
could easily be enfranchised by adopting mobile biometrics systems for
registration.
Biometric systems allow for the
creation of a permanent electronic register which can be updated as new voters
become eligible or existing ones die. They capture data unique to an
individual, in addition to biographical information, and can identify whether
someone has registered more than once by centrally matching fingerprints. The
system allows for people to move to a different electoral constituency without
the need to re-register. In countries where it is in use, Biometric technology
has been adopted to help address electoral fraud and increase the transparency,
and credibility, of the electoral process.
Biometrics can be used to ensure that accurate and current
voter registration rolls are maintained. The technology can be used to
check if the identity for which a person attempts to register to vote validly belongs
to that person. There are many ways to keep the voters’ register up to date. An
example is the automatic inclusion in the voters’ roll of newly eligible voters
when they register for the National ID. In Zimbabwe , biometrics information in
the form of a facial image and fingerprints has always been captured when
applying for an ID. In South
Africa citizens are automatically included
in the voters’ roll after they have reached the official voting age of 18 via
the National ID process. The use of biometrics enables the cross-linking of the
civil and electoral register, which can cut the cost of voter registration.
The
use of biometrics can help in both maintaining and purging the electoral roll.
It can be used effectively in de-duplication of registries, i.e. finding
multiple occurrences of the same person in a register. People register multiple
times for several reasons. It can be for the purpose of voting several times,
it can be to obtain other services several times. It can be for cheating
purposes, or it can simply be due to misunderstandings. A common
occurrence is that the registration process has not been designed to easily
allow for a change of address, wherefore people when moving re-register without
having their old record deleted. People
may also change their names, when they get married for example. A biometrics
based search can locate and eliminate such duplicate entries as it is based on
physical characteristics as compared to a name search.
7. Biometrics
for Voter Identification
Another problem faced in the voting process is the positive
identification of voters at the polls. Protecting the integrity of the
electoral process should include making sure that only eligible voters vote. A
foolproof method is required in assisting poll workers to be certain that
people appearing at the polls are who they claim to be. Of all the methods that
have been used for strengthening the process of identifying voters at the
polls, biometric identification would be the method hardest to defraud.
A positive identification system requires you to identify
yourself when submitting a biometric measure. Your submitted measure is then
checked against the measures given when you enrolled in the system to affirm
that they match. If the submitted and stored biometric measures match then it
is ascertained that you enrolled under the identity you are claiming. If the
presented and enrolled characteristics do not match to a certain pre-determined
level, the user can be given another chance.
8. Feasibility
Fingerprinting systems have been in use for almost three
decades. In Zimbabwe South Africa ,
this system has been used successfully and can certainly function as a best
practice model for Zimbabwe India
The
most beneficial aspect of using biometrics in Zimbabwe, given the current state
of transport links, is that it is viable to introduce and fruitfully utilise mobile
biometric stations. These are portable biometric devices which can be used for
biometric registration and identification. There are portable devices available
on the market designed to create electoral rolls; equipment that is reusable,
extensible and resistant to adverse conditions. These devices are
sell-contained, autonomous units which are supported by long-life batteries
which can be used in remote areas for registration, even within homesteads.
They can also be used for biometric identification and verification at polling
stations. Fixed biometric stations can be deployed at fixed centres, within
urban cores.
Data
storage is no longer an issue as several hundred to a thousand bytes will be
required per user; a figure which is very small given current technology.
Fingerprint scanners which link to a computer are now available for as low as
USD10 and computer keyboards with built-in scanners are also available. It is therefore
not an expensive technology to implement.
In Ghana
The Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) said it
would need about US$20 million to spruce up the widely-condemned roll after
which constituency boundaries would be drawn up for general elections(Herald
21/12/12). It is on record that a proposal for biometrics registration was
made, detailing that the exercise could be carried out within 3 months, costing
USD20 Million; the same figure the ZEC has said it needs to clean up the
voters’ roll! It is therefore feasible
to implement this technology, which once established and maintained, will in
the long-term result in the reaping of diminishing costs of running future
elections.
9. Conclusion
and Discussion
Whenever
the process of elections is tabled for discussion, several governments have a
tendency to stay old fashioned and continue using the traditional systems as
opposed to the newly introduced and burgeoning digital ones. As one of the few African nations which were
at the forefront of embracing modern IT technology in the banking and
telecommunications sector before economic problems surfaced, Zimbabwe should
not be in this category. Other countries have turned into the biometric era and
started using these systems in order to create a better and more reliable
electoral process as discussed above, for example in the case of Nigeria and
Brazil. Biometrics is a portable identity for citizens that can be reused in
many other programs in both the public and private sectors. Delivering services
such as entitlements, banking and voting brings points-of- service access to
rural populations in a cost-effective, reliable and secure way. Many countries
are now fingerprinting their entire population in anticipation of using
biometric databases for a wide range of civil and commercial programs. The challenge for Zimbabwe will be to protect the
integrity of the process without burdening the right to vote in ways that may
decrease registration by eligible voters.
A
registration process that uses sensitive high-tech equipment not only adds
significant ‘integrity’ costs to the core costs but also increases
organisational and logistical challenges. These include the increased need for
technical training as well as continuous supervision and support for
registration staff in the field to ensure that the data is captured, collected
and processed to the highest possible standard. If the Electoral Commission
lacks organisational and logistical resources while attempting to organise such
a complex task, the resulting voters’ roll can be replete with errors. However
Zimbabwe is blessed with a large intellectual base and technically gifted
people, and this challenge is therefore surmountable. The alternative is a
continuation of the current status which, as has been observed over the years,
is costly to the nation, and has claimed lives. This makes this technology
worth pursuing.
A
complex voter registration system does not guarantee successful, fair or
credible elections. The author does not propose the use of biometrics as a
"silver bullet" capable overcoming all obstacles Zimbabwe faces in
ensuring a level playing field in which all eligible voices have their say in
the political future of the country. Its
use can only work in tandem with the political-will and sincerity of
authorities in charge, who are tasked with guaranteeing fairness and with
ensuring inclusion of all citizens. Biometric
technology cannot solve problems rooted in issues such as mistrust among
stakeholders or lack of political freedoms. Elections, at the end of the day,
are a political process. In spite of all the challenges, the
introduction of biometrics in the compilation of voter registers should improve
the accuracy of the voter registers and provide the foundation for clean and
violence free elections. It is therefore urged
that Zimbabwe seriously consider and embrace biometrics technology to ensure
integrity, inclusiveness, accuracy, transparency and accessibility in the
coming elections. This will also ensure that Zimbabwe also learns from and keeps
pace with other African countries which have already adopted Biometric
technology as the author foresees lots of advantages embracing it sooner rather
than later. The Ministry of ICT should take a lead on this.
No comments:
Post a Comment