THE ELECTORAL Advisory Committee (EAC) will tomorrow begin its examination of the reports of five independent evaluators who observed last month's demonstration of fingerprint-matching equipment by three foreign companies.
The demonstration put on by SAGEM of France, and the United States duo, TRW INC., and Cogent Systems, took place at the Jamaica Conference Centre, on the downtown Kingston waterfront. It was aimed at identifying voters electronically and forms part of the efforts of the Government and the Jamaica Labour Party, the parliamentary opposition, to reduce the incidence of electoral fraud.
Danville Walker, Director of Elections, said the reports were being circulated to EAC members yesterday ahead of the meeting. He said the matter would be discussed for the first time since the demonstration on February 15. Mr. Walker told The Gleaner he could not comment on the report as he had not "even read it yet".
Although the findings of the independent evaluators could go a far way in determining whether the EAC makes a case for the purchase of fingerprint-matching equipment, Mr. Walker said it was unlikely a decision would be arrived at after just one meeting. The EAC has overall responsibility for the country's electoral process.
The original demonstration was described by many as unsatisfactory because of numerous glitches when the companies tried to identify voters by matching their fingerprints. SAGEM which uses a different system from the American companies was particularly hampered and held another demonstration the following week, at which it reportedly did a much more efficient job of identifying voters by fingerprint.
Over the years, elections have been marred by multiple voting by people who "beat the system". Also ballot boxes are routinely stuffed by invading groups and there are often problems identifying pictures in the so-called black books which contains biographic data on voters.
