The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) stated, it welcomed the usage of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) for the conduct of the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, however with warning.
ECC is the biggest civil society platform that observes elections in Liberia and is comprised of a number of pro-democracy organizations together with the Center for Democratic Governance (CDG); Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP) and the Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP).
Other member organizations embrace the Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD); Naymote Partners for Democratic Development; West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP), and the Women’s NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL).
The ECC works in partnership with Democracy International with assist from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Its feedback adopted the National Elections Commission’s pronouncement that transportable tablets with fingerprint scanners might be used to seize thumbprints for a biometric voter registry.
Announcing the preliminary plans for 2023, National Elections Commission (NEC) Chairperson Davidetta Browne Lansanah stated the plan is to transition from optical mark recognition for safe voter registration to fingerprint biometrics.
If it really works, this would be the first time NEC might be utilizing the expertise for the registration of voters. The pronouncement has garnered combined reactions with some in favor and others towards, arguing that NEC just isn’t ready to transition to biometrics.
However, the ECC, in a press release issued Monday, September 5, 2022 stated the expertise, whether it is arrange correctly and in a well timed method, in addition to add worth to the standard of the electoral course of; thereby minimizing double registration, automated de-duplication fraud, and manipulation of the voter roll.
The ECC was fast to level out that whereas it commends the NEC for the transition to BVR, the method just isn’t freed from dangers, rolling out a number of suggestions.
“The NEC needs to inform the public which model of the BVR that has been selected and what the pros and cons associated with its usage. The NEC should inform the public about the profile of the vendor that was selected and its track record in managing a BVR system,” it urged.
“The public needs to be informed on the total cost for the purchase and installation of the technology in order to assess its efficiency. This is against the background that the government has allocated US$20 Million in the 2022 national budget.”
It additionally stated it’s “deeply concerned” that the voter registration train will start earlier than the completion of the deliberate nationwide census.
The Legislature lately adopted a joint decision #001/2022, authorizing the Executive Branch of the Government to proceed to make the mandatory preparations for the conduct of the National Census from October 24 to November 7, 2022.
Citing Article 80 (e) of the Liberian Constitution which supplies constituencies to be apportioned by the NEC in accordance with the brand new inhabitants figures; the ECC referred to as for the registration train ought to place after the conduct of Liberia’s National Population and Housing Census and demarcation of the constituencies based mostly on the inhabitants measurement in an effort to keep away from the misplacement of voters.
The ECC famous that whereas the BVR might eradicate double registration, it won’t remedy the difficulty of voter trucking which is related to vote shopping for, a phenomenon that’s turning into institutionalized within the nation’s fragile democracy.
Commenting on October 27, 2022, the deliberate date of the official launch of civic voter schooling (CVE), the ECC stated it’s roughly two months to the graduation of the voter registration course of which is on December 15, 2022.
Considering that the NEC is shifting on to a very new system that has by no means been used earlier than, neither has it been piloted, two months for CVE just isn’t ample to make sure ample consciousness and participation of residents or voters, it famous.
Further within the assertion, the ECC identified that the one-month interval allotted for a political marketing campaign just isn’t sufficient and needs to be prolonged to permit residents to have interaction extra with the candidates.
“The limited time for the campaign also has the tendency to create increased tension as a result of two or more parties or candidates campaigning at the same time in the same location which has a potential to increase electoral violence.”
It then referred to as on the NEC to strengthen its engagement with stakeholders together with political events and civil society organizations on the procurement and set up of the BVR in order to engender nationwide possession of the method.
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