Malawi: Biometric voter registration

Malawi electoral commission adopts electronic voter registration system (Nyasa Times)

“The old method of registering voters did not have the inbuilt mechanism for accurate capturing of fingerprints which will assist in detecting multiple registrations and, therefore, there were instances where some unscrupulous individuals registered more than once.

“Biometric technology will make the detection and hence removal of multiple registration from the system resulting in the production of a more accurate and reliable register for all elections,” says the statement.

This means that the upcoming registration exercise will have an entirely new voters’ register that will replace the existing one and all voters identity cards.

In addition to capturing fingerprints, a voter’s photograph will also be taken on the spot. The photograph will be printed on the new securer voter identity card that will be issued to the voter at the point of registration as well as in the voters register.

Biometric voter registration without biometric voter verification leaves some gaps.