The Electoral Commision of Zambia (ECZ), with the assiatnce of the United Nations (UN), will this year use Biometric technology to conduct voter registration. Biometric technology is used to measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, for for either identification or verification purposes.
The UN, through its Development Programme (UNDP), has already selected a company called Smartmatic to provide the new technologies for the improvement of the electoral register for ECZ.
For the first stage of the project, Smartmatic will supply ECZ with 1,000 mobile electronic biometric registry units, known as PARkits. This kit will include all hardware and software components, with their respective protective cases, training services, technical assistance and a one-year warranty.
Smartmatic, a leading provider of technological solutions for governments, was selected after the UN conducted a rigorous testing of numerous identity and registry technologies.
“We are very excited to be selected by the UNDP for this important project and to have the opportunity to provide the Republic of Zambia with our advanced technology to enhance their electoral register”, said Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s CEO. The PARkit units that will be used in Zambia are all equipped with Smartmatic’s registration application and with electrical backup components that ensure its autonomy for 8 straight hours.
The UNDP expects recruiting of operators to start on the second week of April and the electoral registration operations to begin in May 2010.The voter registration project in Zambia is part of the UNDP’s ongoing commitment to improve the performance of democratic governments. The UNDP invests 34% of its resources each year in projects in support of democratic governments and provides on-the-ground services in 166 countries.
Smartmatic specialises in fully-automated, electronic voting systems which they claim are completely secure, reliable and auditable. In January this year, their electronic voting system was successfully used in a parliamentary elections in ,Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the
Venezuelan coast. The big test for the company’s voting system will be in Phillipines, where that country’s Electoral Commission has deployed an automated electronic system by Smartmatic for use in this year’s May elections.
It is however not clear weather the ECZ will use Smartmatic’s automated electoral systems or just use their voter registration component. While automated voting system are claimed to deliver results timely and with confidence, many people are still sceptical of the successful deployment of such an operation in Zambia at the moment because of infrastructure challenges.
Timely release of results has been at the centre of frustration that many a Zambian voters and Political parties have had to endure in the last couple of elections. Any solution to address this problem will roundly be welcomed by all parties involved.
Creeping enslavement of humanity.
I concur with the Lord @ #1. By the way, how much will it cost the poor tax payer? 😕
hope this will reduce or rather stop the MMD from cheating,but ba MMD nibamukukulu they will make a plan .Ubuteko libala lyachalo so once you in power ninshi chapwa kulaibafye,so they will do everything to just stay in power.
we need something like this for voters, may be it can bring about sanity and change!
Change is on the way come 2011,the writting is on the way for Bwezi & clique:-??:-??:-??:-??:-??:-??
Sounds good, but i reserve my suspicions
We dont care how much it costs as long as its effective and efficient thats all we need to curb room for dodgy GRZs cooking election results:-w
:(( I can already smell a rat…Biometric fimofimo to be used in Voters regerstration.This technology sound very suspicious .why Zambia.We dont need ifyo ifya ma Bio..what the the govt. needs is proper record of its citizen.from a day old to the old person in Zambia.why do have to spend so much tax payers money just to count voters. if you ask me.In this part of the world they know how their population, because they keep record of every birth and death.we cant continue living on appromation things have changed.These copy and paste Ideas from some donnor agemcies have hiden agends behind them, they are not meant to help us….:o:o:o:o
Ba Ka*doyo… You think this Bio fimofimo voters regsration is done in good faith,just wait and see how people will be biologically programmed to vote for MMD.:o:o
i have developed my own system of identifying people and no one has asked me – nrc only!
#8, you are damn right. Keeping records is what is needed first. Otherwise, even Congolese will use the Biometric System to vote for MMD. Infact, if we had a sound record keeping system, there would be no need for the so called Biometric Technology.
#9 and co.. you go skeptics as usual too addicted to lies and conspiracy theories. Soon somebody is going to post here that Vernon Mwaanga’s company is behind the manufacture of this technology. Issue is not NRC, but rather duplicate registration.
I have said this before and I say it again. ELECTION RIGGING IN ZAMBIA IS AN URBAN LEGEND. A MYTH IN THE MIND OF THE OPPOSITION. Nobody has ever rigged an election in Zambia. We just have sore losers who lie that they lost because of rigging. The acquisition of this technology just goes to show how MMD is committed to have an electoral system that is auditable beyond proof. THis is the best the industry has to offer and only a Damn person would believe that UN is working with MMD to rig elections in MMD’s favour. Get over your Paranoia!!!!
So, is self confessed Drug dealer Vernon Mwaanga involved in this…. Well, I would not put it past him.
The question is that he was with KK, he was used by FJT Kafupi and he has bounced back in RB. What it that all these have seen in this self confessed drug dealer? Those who are talking about crime, drug trafficking is an internattional crime. Why is MMD KEEPING drug barons in thier government? Shame on Mangani.
However “nice” or watertight the system may become, az long az it doezn’t adress the needz of the people, it will remain a mere academic exercize.
Ya chalikale,
Ulu ulwa kuma farm olonaisa imbalala nashamba ukupya. Anyway this sounds great but
i will wait and pray.
I missed you all but now i am with you your ideas are sweet keep it up.
Dont worry about VJ. He is going to be in a stable condition very soon.
More to the voters
” The Zambian Government is in talks with Apple Computers have the I-pad customized to be used as Ballot paper, Picture and symbols of candidates will be displayed on the scream and voters have to touch the flat screen to select there Best Choice, Every touch means that the Data is automatically posted to a Microsoft SQL 2008 Database via the Zesco Optical Fibre and in some cased using V-Sat Technology, Results will be viewed in real time using the internet with browsers Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3 or any other recent Browsers.
There will be no pen or paper and less human involvement as Servers with the Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series will control everything.
Results will be know immediately last vote is cast
The only way this will make sense is if it is tied to the voting system as well………same system for registration and voting. Like this, bio whatever is useless….only opening for VJ and friends to rig.:(
Another NIKUV!!
There is no guarantee that this will make anything better! Do you expect to start calling people all over again to come and register? And don’t forget, the disputed elections in the US that ushered in George Bush were electronically done. It was so bad that the 2008 elections were done manually in some states because of confessions from electronic riggers. Are you sure that this will not give jobs to the same riggers that have now lost business in the West due to stricter rules there? They will just reappear here as consultants. Just maintain the manual system because at least we can tell when ballot papers go missing!
Good Afternoon
Call it Biometric technology or whatever you like as long as you don’t use it to sell our country down the river. We all and one would like to benefit from such technology IF it is not used to experiment on our vulnerable system of young democracy. We shall see…
Shouldn’t eradicating hunger and disease be of more importance than this? I am all for technological advancement but we need to get our priorities in order. Yeeesh!
This is what is called development in uplifting transparent and democracy in any given elections,yes this is needed in Zambia to avoid suspicions of rigging, moreover most countries in the world are gone for digital and computerized systems to keep clean records,secure,safe,trasparency, cost effective,efficiency and save’s time. So why not Zambia, yes we can.%%-**==
this sounds ridiculous. we are a testing ground no doubt. this technology isn’t even used in OECD countries. if we could just secure our NRC system then one could use that for voting and registration period.
1. The author of this article or news is not mentioned. Strange and suspicious!
2. I agree with you # 8, 100%. You cant send a child to university before they do Primary and secondary education. A Biometric system needs to feed from a National electronic database that also uses biametric technology. In short, we must first have an SMART (Biometric) NRC system and an electronic database for all citizines’ information. Then the voting system will need to intereface with the electronic register through a relational database so that whatever you input on the voting system is validated on the electronic population register. Without this, the idea is ill conceived and a skim by the MMD. Its rubish.
#18 u cracked me up,real time indeed,well maybe this shud be used for more that voters’ registration,you know,keeping records of people on the national databases,easily retrievable by different organizations,etc.
Well done to the UN. *****s who don’t know biometric technology have started with their feable consipiracy theories. Don’t embarrass learned Zambians. Read on biometric technology before you make wild allegations about rigging. bututu uyo.This is not even going to cost you chaps anything its mere assitance from the UN like they have done in many parts of the world. Typical Zambian who doesn’t like to read but wants to show that he or she is more knowledgeable after reading Post, Zambia Daily Mail, ZNBC & nkani yamu mosi.This is great. I have seen it work here in the Middle East so you should just be grateful to the UN.Stop your stupid consipiracies about rigging. Sata lost the last 2 elections becoz he didn’t factor in the rural people & how they would swing the votes in favour period.
Could someone in the know explain how MMD would rig the elections IN 2011 by using biometric technology. This is the definition that I know: “Biometrics is the science and technology of measuring and analysing biological data. In IT, biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyse human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements, for authentication purposes.” PLEASE DON’T COMMENT IF YOU DON’T KNOW OR ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS.
Abwenzi it is simple – when they come to a PF or UPND area to register biometric details, the machine is “oh sorry, it is bagadi, come back later”. When they go to a MMD area to register biometric details, the machine works “just OK”. It’s the same with NRCs, this system will just help rigging
in that if you are not registered, biometrically or otherwise, then your vote is already stolen
Sleep on Zambia sleep.Our country is gone.Welcome New World Order.
Thumbs up to the UNDP, finally they have heard the cries of most Zambians concerns regarding rigging. here now lies an uphill challenge for seasoned riggers.
They’ve been had by the international community by providing it free…lets go en-mass as trainee operators now and see it for ourselves and stop hallucinating in dark corners…yaba talk about a fools paradise.
:d Question 1. How easy is it to rig biometric system?
Because from what i know and what science tells us that we are all biologically unique. So how would you rig a biometric system if your finger print in different from mine and from every individual on this planet?:-?
fear… fear.. fear… pa zed, why are we so scared of new innovations/things etc? whats up with this culture? These always skeptism or some conspirancy theory behind every new thing…..awe mwe:o
#35 Ka’doyo
The Oxford American Dictionary defines a conspiracy as:
A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.
Well, you only bring out the lie detector when you don’t trust someone… so, bringing out the biometric technology to me means that the UN and others are highly suspicious and feel the chances of rigging the next elections are quite HIGH… but then again, anyone bent on doing evil can always find a way of making that technology work for them… I have to end with a negative because we are living in an electrically charged atmosphere of suspicion…>-)
Why is it that this biometric identification system is not used in elections here, in developed countries like the UK? Instead they use the usual paper roll register. Unless all parties are agreeable to this system it may bring suspition.