Election Resource Center Response to The Herald
Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-The Herald of 13 March 2017 commentary ran with an unlikely but expected headline: BVR; a luxury we cannot afford! The article posited that Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) with all its advantages was a risk to the country and a luxury we could not afford.
It premised its assertion on the failures of biometric voting and voter identification technology in well to do nations like France and other African countries and not BVR. The commentary placed this failure solely on cyber warfare and attacks.
The Election Resource Centre (ERC) contends that the commentary is largely a misrepresentation of facts.
The article begins with stating some facts, which the ERC agrees to;
- ZEC has been called upon to produce a clean and accurate Voters’ Roll.
- BVR ensures credible data.
- It is ZEC’s responsibility to ensure good electoral processes.
- BVR is not the panacea to all electoral mal-practices.
However, the commentary goes on to propagate some unfounded and misrepresented propositions.
Vulnerabilities to hacking
While BVR process can be susceptible to hacking, it is less likely so as compared to biometric voting and biometric voter identification.
The examples referred to by the editor of the Herald are mainly common in the latter two systems not BVR. Everything else except the capturing of biometric features remains manual in the case of Zimbabwe and difficult to hack.
What can be hacked in BVR; can also be the same under a manual process whose versions are kept as electronic as demanded by the Electoral Act.
BVR is more expensive
The commentary borders around the cost of the BVR, which the country cannot afford. Voter registration in 2013 cost $15.8 million out of a requested $25 million.
Important to note is the fact that infrastructure for voter registration was already in place at the Registrar General, it was extension of voter registration as compared to new voter registration, and the result was a disputed Voters’ Roll. ZEC has requested $29 million for BVR, including procurement of the kits.
A new voter registration process, a new infrastructure, and a de-duplication process are new features. Certainly, this is not more expensive. The ERC contends that a manual process would be more expensive.
That BVR implementation will “only massage a few egos”
Having given a background of ZEC coming under pressure to produce a clean and accurate Voters’ Roll, the article then claims that this will only massage a few egos.
The ERC states that all citizens genuinely interested in a free, fair, and credible election were and are concerned by the state of the Voters’ Roll. It is commendable that ZEC, with the sole mandate to superintend elections in Zimbabwe, saw it fit to use BVR to address this challenge.
That BVR is not a means to an end
The commentary posits that BVR is not a means to an end. Again, having agreed earlier in the article that BVR ensures credible data, that ZEC is responsible for ensuring good electoral processes, it smacks of hypocrisy to quickly turn around and argue that it is not a means to an end.
Is a clean and accurate Voters’ Roll not a means to a credible election? Is voter registration that adheres to internationally accepted principles not a means to a free, fair, and credible election?
Fundamentally, the media (both private and public) should play its role in accurately informing and educating society without misrepresenting facts. What is clear is that ZEC is implementing BVR and not electronic/biometric voting or biometric identification of voters.
Examples of first world countries and other African countries abandoning the exercise or being attacked by cyber terrorists are out of place. The ERC urges ZEC to uphold its mandate and maintain its independence by setting the record clear and instituting its responsibilities without undue influence.
Furthermore, the think tank and advocacy institution, encourages ZEC to adhere to principles of voter registration, whether under BVR or not and to produce a clean and accurate Voters’ Roll ahead of 2018.
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