Thumps up for biometric voting system - ZESN

The Zimbabwe Election Support (ZESN) has endorsed planned moves by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's (ZEC)  to introduce a biometric voting system for the 2018 general election.

The election watchdog said ZEC should urgently engage with other local electoral stakeholders including CSOs and political parties to expedite the process of identifying and adopting the most appropriate type of the biometric voter registration system for Zimbabwe.

The biometric system will scan for either fingerprints or the iris (coloured part of the eye) and is already in use in African countries like Kenya and Ghana.

Below is the full statement issued by ZESN on Monday :

The Zimbabwe Election Support (ZESN) welcomes the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's (ZEC) ongoing engagements with international experts which are meant to inform ZEC's plan to implement a biometric voter registration system (BVR) for the 2018 harmonised elections. ZESN urges the Commission to urgently engage with other local electoral stakeholders including CSOs and political parties to expedite the process of identifying and adopting the most appropriate type of the biometric voter registration system for Zimbabwe.

Biometric voting systems are highly advanced information system that allow for the identification of millions of voters quickly and unmistakably using specific biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or iris. The advantages of BVR include multiple methods of identifying voters, faster and efficient capturing of voters' records, enhanced security and privacy of voter information and improved integrity and reliability of voter information.

ZESN believes that the adoption of the biometric voting system will augment the new polling station based voting system to be implemented for the 2018 harmonised elections. In addition, the system will prevent duplicate voter registration thereby eliminating the possibility of multiple voting on Election Day.

Given the limited time to the holding of the harmonised elections in 2018 ZESN urges the Government to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the holding of credible elections by among other things ensuring that adequate financial support is availed for the full implementation of the polling station based voting system and the adoption of the biometric voter registration system, and that these funds are availed timeously.

ZESN reiterates its position that although the adoption of the polling station based voters' roll and biometric voting system will enhance transparency and credibility of electoral processes there is need for proper mechanisms to be put in place to ensure the existence of an enabling political environment before, during and after the harmonized elections.

ZESN Director Mrs Rindai Chipfunde Vava welcomed the plans by the Commission to adopt the BVR system and polling station based voting for the 2018 harmonised elections, highlighting that "adequate resources must be put in place to ensure that all the various processes are done in time for the new systems to be successful. There is need for the Commission to conduct comprehensive voter education on the new developments to create awareness amongst the electorate to build confidence in Zimbabwe's electoral processes.