Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is satisfied with its election trial run, and plans to proceed with its new smart card and biometric voting systems, according to a Premium Times article on allAfrica.com.
The trial run came under serious criticism recently after reports of technical glitches, particularly with respect to the biometric voter authentication system. INEC has now acknowledged that the biometric fingerprint scanners were successful with only 59 percent of voters, but officials explained that traditional voter authentication methods are available as a back-up option in those cases where the biometric systems can’t identify eligible voters. Meanwhile, INEC says, the smart Permanent Voter Card readers were successful 100 percent of the time.
Both UN observers and Nigeria’s own civil society organization Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have recommended going ahead with the new voting system. It will be another impressive technological advancement in a country known for its early adopter approach to new technologies including mobile devices and biometrics.
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March 12, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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