Most elections in Africa are tarnished by allegations and accusations around the voters' roll, breaches of the voting processes and the collection of ballot papers. In South Africa, people have been recorded as voting in the wrong district and, even more concerning, there have been reports of extra ballot papers being found dumped in certain areas.

There's a clear need to modernise voting processes in African countries, to ensure that the person registered to vote is the person who votes, as well as providing data around who has voted that can be correlated with the collection of ballot papers. Countries wishing to receive election support from international bodies such as the United Nations, need to modernise and rationalise their electoral processes. All of which underscores the need for biometric voter registration in African countries.

One may well consider whether African voters are ready for biometric processes, but Keoagile Magasa, Regional Sales Manager for OT-Morpho South Africa, says biometric technology is already being implemented in various African countries to ensure a more transparent voting process. She says care has to be taken to ensure that the implemented technology has to consider the uniquely African environment.

Biometric voter registration that has proven successful across multiple election periods in different African countries have the following elements in common:

* Technology that's user friendly and not complicated to the user.
* Technology where knowledge transfer can occur easily to end customer or local partners.
* Unique devices that can capture demographic data, fingerprint, portrait and signature on one device.
* Portable devices that can be easily moved from site to site.
* Technology that ensures quality data is captured.
* Equipment that can withstand onerous environmental factors such as dust, high temperature or humidity; it must have an independent power source that allows it to operate for periods of time when there is no electricity, so ability to use a solar panel or a generator.
* The technology needs to be affordable given the financial constraints that most African governments are under.

So why biometric voter registration instead of alternative more traditional methods? Magasa replies: "It's ultimately about security. One of the most vital elements of voting is ensuring that the elections are free, fair and – most importantly – transparent. The use of biometrics brings that transparency by establishing an inclusive and accurate voters' list or register."

Voter register needs to be monitored to ensure that eligible citizens only register once to vote – and that they only vote once – in an election. Biometric technology also plays a role in verifying a voter's eligibility to vote. In most African countries, the minimum voting age is 18, but there's ongoing debate on lowering this age to 16. The technology also controls the legitimacy of the voting process. Certain countries go as far as issuing a voter identification card, where identification of the voter is linked to the card itself.

Commenting on traditional, paper-based registration processes, Magasa says: "This is the most labour-intensive method of collecting data. It's also the most insecure, as discrepancies can creep in between data collection, data management and storage. It requires vigorous processes by government to guarantee validity of the data and ensure there's no duplication nationally. All of which opens the door for multiple voting and inconsistency in the voting statistics."

Once a government has taken to necessary steps to implement biometric voter registration for its election, it needs to consider the upskilling of the people who will be using the technology to capture voters' data. Magasa cautions: "Training is the most critical element for the success of any biometric voter registration project. It's vital that vendors equip local players to ensure that the process can occur independently of the technology provider.

"An adequate amount of time is required to do the training before rollout of the project and must incorporate hands-on training to ensure correct usage of the technology. It's important that training be adapted to the trainees' level, ensuring they feel comfortable with the technology and understand the advantages of using it, regardless of whether it's capturing fingerprints, portrait acquisition and analysis, or search verification."

Time and planning are the highest risk factors when it comes to biometric voter registration. Once a government has chosen to go this route, it needs to consider the following:

* The internal procurement cycle can be very long, leading to time constraints once the vendor has been elected.
* An adequate amount of time must be allocated for system rollout, training and testing of the system.
* Enough time must be allocated to data gathering, verification, recording and even storage of the data.
* Be aware of logistical challenges; most of Africa's population resides in the rural areas, so provision needs to be made to ensure that the data of all eligible voters is acquired.
* Governments need to formulate simple processes needed to register citizens, in order to simplify a nationwide rollout of the processes. Gartner states that most IT projects in the public sector fail owing to the complexity of business processes.