Ghana Election Process

Biometric Voter Verification

Interactive Workshop

9th International Electoral Affairs Symposium, Cape Town, Dec 3-5, 2014

Biometric Voter Verification

The next step on the way to achieve: ‘One Man, One Vote’

3 BVV exercises in Africa

Ghana, 2012 “Ghana’s world record-breaking accomplishment ” (Source: Biometricupdate.com)

Kenya, 2013 “the overall conduct of the operations was good, and […] the recorded results reflected the will of the voters despite the fact that the biometric technology largely failed. Indeed, Kenya has made great strides in increasing transparency, trust in the electoral process and strengthening the nation’s democratic institutions” (Source: Aljazeera.com)

Namibia, 2014 (1.2 Mio Voters) “Announcements of election results held in Namibia on Friday are expected to be delayed due to slow voting. (…) There are long queues everywhere in the country. The handheld voter verification device to verify the biometrical fingerprint of voters has contributed to the slow voting process.” (Source: News24.com)

Results

~10 million voters biometrically verified at 26,000 polling stations

Problems encountered at 413 polling stations (late delivery of materials, batteries BVD, etc.)

resumed voting on second day

Close monitoring of independent observer teams (CODEO, Commonwealth, IEBC, AU etc.)

Simple process easily applied by properly trained operators

Fully transparent and conclusive election outcome

Challenges

Logistics: delivery of election materials

Provisioning of consumables (batteries)

Limited time for pilots

Limited time for operator recruitment and training

Biometric Verification on Election Day 2012 National Elections Ghana

Our conclusions

The keys to success for BVV

• Awareness BVV is a special type of project

• Preparation A fail to plan …

• Training and support Just training is not enough

• Device The tool is just one factor

One man, one vote, that counts!

‘Biometric Voter Verification’

Challenge

BVV is a “BIG BANG” project, everything has to work that one day.

Voter data will be available only a short period of time before election day.

Any failure immediately affects the polling process.

Awareness ‘Biometric Voter Verification’

BVV requires a different approach and preparation

Alignment of processes is essential

Carefully analyze the election process

Pilot, pilot and pilot again

Adjust the process to cater for identified sources of failure

Preparation ‘Biometric Voter Verification’

Being a “BIG BANG” project the preparation phase is the only learning curve you have

Quality Samples # voters percent of overall population

10 5850145

9 4613620

8 2187737

7 806712

6 292971

5 116651 98,84%

4 49693

3 25564

2 18081 0,67%

1 11117

0 58974 0,50%

14031265

Training and support

Training

Staff training is a key to success; all (!) the operators play a key role

Hotline

Provide a hotline for the BVV AND for the electoral process

Support

Have spare devices ready and assume that HW might fail

‘Biometric Voter Verification’

The result is a reliable detection of fraudulent ballots

Device features

User-friendly and tested in remote areas

Use of standard batteries vs re-chargeable

Extensive testing before shipping

Storage of equipment

The device ‘Biometric Voter Verification’

Quality of the device, combined with secured logistics make it work

The device is a tool in the whole process

Awareness, preparation and training are essential

Devices are to be used in multiple elections

‘One Man, One Vote’

Contact details

Michiel Loeff Arnd Langguth Willem Kevenaar

Tel: +31 627 066 185 +49 1728 933 916 +254 716164202 michiel.loeff@genkey.com arnd.langguth@genkey.com willem.kevenaar@genkey.com