The 2015 Biometric Voting System and the Politics of Free, Fair and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria

The need for Nigerians to record a free, fair and credible election to sustain the democracy led to the use of biometric voting method. This method is expected to reduce political violence and post election petitions. This study examined the relationship between biometric identification technology and the challenges of 2015 general elections in Nigeria. The qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were adopted for the study. The chaos theory was adopted as a framework of analysis. This study therefore established that the use of biometric voting technology did not contribute to significant reduction in post-election petitions in the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. Limited or non-verification of voters' fingerprints even after authenticating their PVCs and over-voting were rampant. The use of the card readers was evidently problematic, with 18% malfunctioning and 91% not being able to consistently verify fingerprints resulting in significant disenfranchisement. Over 2.3 million of those that were accredited (7.3%) did not finally cast their ballot. This weakened the integrity of the process. A record of 610 postelection petitions were filed after the 2015 general elections which was less than 9 percent reduction compared to the 731 recorded in the preceding 2011 election. Again, the study established that the malfunctioning of the Smart Card Readers occasioned high increase in inconclusive elections during the 2015 general election in Nigeria. About 18% of smart card readers malfunctioned and 91% could not consistently verify fingerprints, and consequently manual voter identification was undertaken which increased enfranchisement. In more than 12% of polling units no attempt was made, to verify fingerprints. In 13% of polling units, card readers were not always able to read PVCs, and in 94% could not always verify fingerprints. This resulted in postponed elections in 13 House of Representative constituencies in three states. After the 2015 general elections, INEC has conducted 2 governorship re-run elections, one council election and aver 80 re-run legislative elections across the country. It is therefore recommended that INEC improve on training for regular and ad-hoc staff on the operation of biometric voting system. The number of judges that attend to post-election petitions should be increased to ensure speedy dispensation of justice. The Federal Government should provide accommodation and transportation logistics for INEC field staff during elections to guarantee timely and effective coverage of the designated polling units. It is expected that the findings in this paper will be used to improve subsequent election in Nigeria.

Keywords: Biometric Voting; General elections, Progress, Politics, Pitfalls.