Is the biometric data used in voter identification at polling stations?

Report of the Commonwealth Experts Team – The Gambia Presidential Elections

“The 2011 elections saw the introduction of a new digital system of voter registration as a platform upon which a biometric matching was conducted. The IEC noted that the digital system “has in place adequate security features integrated in both the voter card and the data capture processes to ensure an accurate list of voters.””

“At the end of the voter registration exercise, the IEC announced that the number of registered voters stood at 837 039. On 4 October 2011, the Chairman of the IEC was announced that this number had dropped to 796 929. The reason for this decline, he noted, was that the registration officials had initially added the spoilt and cancelled cards in the statistics returned from the field. Additionally, thumb print and facial recognition were used to detect that a total of 1897 persons registered more than once.”

Gambia’s IEC reports progress in ongoing voter registration

Double registration of voters in The Gambia has often been an issue and the chairman warned of enormous consequences for those who are involved in such fraudulent activity. “May I remind all Gambians that it is illegal to attempt to register more than once. Those who registered in 2011 must not register again. There is a penalty on double registration. It is a fine of twenty-five thousand dalasis (D25,000) or a prison term of two years with being barred from participating in any future electoral activities for not more than 10 years if convicted,” he added. “… Some applicants still attempt to register twice. I call on applicants who have done double registrations to come forward now and surrender the cards otherwise; they will be caught and prosecuted. Let me also state that if an applicant registered more than once with whatever name, address or date of birth, he/she will be detected when the biometrics cross-matching is complete.”