Voters' Registration - INEC's Choice of Software Triggers Fresh Problems

Note: A "patch" to facilitate digital fingerprinting is being sent to DDC machines at all polling stations.

Vanguard

19 January 2011

Voters' Registration - INEC's Choice of Software Triggers Fresh Problems

The Shaky Take-off of the on-going registration of voters for this year's general elections is attributable to a combination of INEC's choice of software, registration officials who have little knowledge of the machines they are to use, and logistics, according to Vanguard findings.

Nevertheless, INEC has kept reassuring Nigerians that it has all the capacity to carry out an effective voters' registration exercise. This is even when the technology backbone for the exercise, the DDC machines, had a shaky start in many areas.

However, investigations revealed that the first problem was related to the capacity of INEC personnel to install the equipment properly. In most places the personnel adopted a trial and error strategy that was time wasting and frustrating.

The second problem was related to slow finger scanning arising from the way INEC calibrated its software to achieve high quality finger print impressions. Although INEC has assured that both problems would be sorted out in due time, Hi-Tech gathered that fingerprint impressions may also be a major headache to a smooth exercise owing to the software that combines the hardware technology for the exercise.