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Biometric Voter Registration Kits


Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been in the limelight recently for all the right or wrong reasons depending on how you view it in regard to the acquisition of the Biometric Voter Registration Kits. But what struck me the most is how ignorant Kenyans are concerning these kits.

The acronym BVR is on the lips of every Kenyan but few know what or how it works and even fewer have seen it. I have therefore taken upon myself to try and gather as much relevant info about these strange kits that promise to eliminate polling result disputes by creating a “rig free environment” if that’s even possible.

The kit is designed to capture fingerprints or iris (of the eye) or both when registering for these are unique to each individual. These bio-data is collected and stored on one main server. During the voting period it is what the registered voter presents that the collected bio-data will be compared against come the day of voting.

Advantages

·         Biometrics data is the input one needs and in this case the fingerprint or iris which I believe no one can sell, borrow or loose (but I stand corrected)
·         Body parts are unique and Biometrics uses the unique identity to enable a voter activate his/her intentions
·         It reduces fraud
·         It reduces password administration costs and replaces hard-to-remember passwords which may be shared or observed
·         It Integrates a wide range of biometric solutions and technologies, customer applications and databases into a robust and scalable control solution for facility and network access 
·         Easy to track the activities of each individual (location and time) in real time
·         Unequivocally links an individual to a transaction or event
·         Saves time


Disadvatages

·         Biometrics requires a lot of data to be stored on a person, these systems are not always reliable and sometimes one can get sick and the eyes become puffy or fingers become rough due to manual labour
·         The cost and technical complexity of such systems.
·         For people affected with diabetes, the eyes get affected resulting in differences.

  
BIOMETRIC VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM FLOWCHART
  




Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) 




Sovereign nations need to adopt a voting registration infrastructure that supports fair, credible elections absent of fraud and illegal practices to ensure the protection of democratic principles. The M2SYS Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) system helps to establish a biometric voter identification mechanism that secures the 'one citizen, one vote' mandate and maintains just and accurate voting registries. Designed to facilitate accurate voting identification, prevent duplicate registration, maintain voting lists, and provide a mechanism to verify the true identity of voters at polling stations, the M2SYS AFIS system is an affordable solution that comprehensively implements the safeguards of biometric identification at each step of the process.
National ID cards often serve as the primary means for the voting registration process but the creation and maintenance of back end voting databases are usually independent and require a separate voter catalog that demands the highest security and modern technological preventative measures to avoid illegal practices that could falsify the outcome of an election. Our M2SYS AFIS and Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS – which allows incorporation of facial and iris recognition biometric voter identification) is perfectly suited to act as the trusted identification mechanism for the National ID subset of identities that constitute the voter registration rolls or as an independent identification source.

Source:http://www.m2sys.com/automated-fingerprint-identification-system-afis-voter-registration.htm

 Mobile AFIS Stations
The mobile stations can be used as an enrollment station for electronic fingerprinting, as a terminal of remote access to the Central AFIS resources and as an express ID checking workstation.

The mobile stations provide on-the-spot access to the AFIS databases through any wire communication channel supporting IP connectivity, and through wireless connectivity as well whether it is GSM or CDMA.

BioLink Mobile RS

BioLink Mobile RS is designed to capture all the needed information during the process of booking subjects under any environmental conditions and for real-time identification.



All the components of BioLink Mobile RS are incorporated in two ruggedized transportable cases. With one of these cases, containing a notebook, a fingerprint scanner and a camera, you can quickly and accurately create high quality electronic tenprint cards and verify the identity of subjects in the field. With facilities from another, smaller, container, you can print out any information.

Unit configuration includes:
        
          DS-45M is equipped with a built-in color LCD display that     
          enables you to control the process of taking fingerprints and palm 
          prints (the operator does not use the monitor of the workstation – 
          it replaces it with the scanner’s display that helps the operator to 
          concentrate upon the fingerprinting process only)

  • Digital camera, recharger, tripod
  • GSM modem
  • Jet printer (A4 size)
  • Two shockproof cases with mounting accessories inside
  • Software for mobile booking and express ID checking
  • Linux OS or Windows OS
Source:http://www.biolinksolutions.com/afis-law-enforcement/mobile/

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