INEC smart card reader: Its function and role

Saturday 28th March, Nigerians will decide by casting their votes to their respective choice of candidates. The Independent national electoral commission (INEC) says it has adopted the use of smart card reader to verify the permanent voter’s card (PVC) due to speculations that fake PVCs have been produced and are already in circulation. INEC said this model will help actualize its campaign on ensuring transparency. Experts have said that INEC has adopted biometrics methods in countries like Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda and Senegal.

To ensure that the readers perform up to the expected standard, they have been subjected to integrity test.  Without leaving any stone unturned, INEC procured an additional 20,000 card readers, apart from the 152,000 acquired. 35,000 backup batteries were also acquired in case there is any occurrence.

The role and function of the card reader include the following:

- The card readers make use of sim cards and have in-built memories, thus poor mobile connection is no problem.

- They are deliberately programmed to work between time frames, and would not work after that set of time.

- The card readers will be pre-configured by INEC staff for polling units before polling officials arrive.

- The smart card reader sends data of people accredited to INEC’s central server ahead of counting of the ballot papers, preventing linkages and exchanging to rig elections.

- Before an individual will be allowed to vote, the thumb print of the voter will be taken with the device and it must match with the one on the PVC.

- Accreditation of voters will last only for 5 hours but card readers have been designed to last for 12 hours if the battery is fully charged.

- INEC officials have revealed that each device has the capacity for the details of about 750 voters which means it can only verify the details of the voters whose data have been entered into the device.

Finally lets vote and not fight ! !! !!!