Voter identification is required during two phases of the electoral process: first for registration to establish the right to vote, and afterwards, at voting time, to allow a citizen to exercise their right to vote by verifying that the person satisfies all the requirements needed to vote.
In most countries, the process of voter authentication and verification of identity is done manually, but some countries have implemented and others are experimenting with an automated or at least semi-automated method to verify the identity of voters and their right to vote. This also implies the existence of an electronic voter register. Actually, the technologies used for voter identification at election time depend on the technologies used to establish the voter register.
Most voter identification technologies need to use digitalized voter information and may include the use of:
- smart cards that record a person’s personal information and even biometric data
- database management systems that store and manage digitalized data
- biometric information, such as finger print identification
Smart cards
Smart card technology permits the storage of digital information that can be updated and accessed with an inexpensive reading device that may or may not be linked to a computer network. The smartcard, itself, is a plastic card that resembles a credit card and contains a small chip, which includes memory and sometimes a microprocessor. Gold contacts connect the smart card to the reading device. Since it can store more data than a magnetic strip, a smart card can keep the voter’s relevant data, including biometric data, and can also store non permanent data, such as the polling station where the voter is supposed to vote, for instance. Encryption techniques secure the data, and the tiny processor, if it is there, allows the smart card to be programmed for different applications.
Database management systems
This technology enables the recording, storage and management of required voter data.
Finger printing recognition
While this technology is not new, the electronic methods of recording and recognizing an individual finger print advanced substantially during the last decade of the 20th century. Today, identification can be achieved in a few seconds with reasonable accuracy. As a result, the use of automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) that record, store, search, match and identify finger prints is rapidly expanding. AFIS can be integrated in a suite of applications that work together to provide a comprehensive fingerprint and palm print identification solutions to accommodate the needs of voter registration systems as well as voter authentication and voter identification systems used at voting time.
