The digital identity security product company Gemalto won an international tender to supply CENI, the National Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with 22,000 mobile biometric voter enrollment kits. This is for an update of the African country’s national voter register.
Gemalto’s portable Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations will enable 18,000 enrollment centres to acquire digital photographs, fingerprint and signature records of citizens, and issue personal voter cards for elections. Gemalto will also ‘train the trainers’ for CENI and provide maintenance and support for this voter registration project, which the product firm describes as one of the largest ever.
Gemalto’s Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations feature a suitcase-style design and can be deployed virtually anywhere, the makers say. CENI will use the Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations (http://www.gemalto.com/brochures-site/download-site/Documents/gov_coesys_mobile_enrollment.pdf) for acquisition of voter’s personal details and biometric data that will be used to add new eligible voters, plus clean and update records in the national voter register ahead of the elections. Biometric data will help identify and eliminate duplicates, the product company adds. CENI is responsible for managing and operating the entire enrollment process, and consolidating the voter registry.
Corneille Nangaa, President of CENI, said: “We needed a reliable partner to facilitate our ambitious programmr, which we expect will enroll up to 45 million voters. With a wealth of experience in enrollment and voter registry applications in Africa and beyond, Gemalto offered an excellent technical fit, and the ability to react quickly to our requirements.”
And Frederic Trojani, Executive Vice President for Government Programs at Gemalto, said: “Our secure mobile enrollment solution will enable CENI to establish a reliable and respected voter registry, based on undisputable biometric data, and provide all the flexibility required to set up voter registration bureau all across the country. Above all else, it provides the Democratic Republic of Congo with a trusted foundation towards free, fair and transparent elections.”
Pictured; the contract signing.
