In this post, we drew attention to two very interesting and important aspects of the Nigerian biometric voter registration effort.
The linked article inspired hope for a transparent election process. It also begged a few questions. Could Nigeria go from open source pieces to a functioning electoral system within acceptable financial, functional and time constraints? What led Nigeria to build its own technological solution, rather than purchase one? Would the technology be seen to be free from political influence?
This article from Vanguard (Nigeria) "How not to register voters: One election, one registration" sheds light on the first question. The article does expose some of the significant difficulties encountered in rolling out the biometric system, but it is also critical of the bureaucratic framework in which Nigerian elections take place.
The video at Millions register for Nigeria vote (Al Jazeera) also provides some insight into the other two questions while raising even more but the video is interesting and inspiring in its own right.
From the looks of it, the main architect of the system is Nyimbi Odero. During his interview his title is given as ICT Consultant, Electoral Commission.
