Ghana Rolled Out Biometrics for 15 Million Voters in 6 Weeks — Why Can’t Guyana?

In 2012 Ghana Electoral Commission, under Chairperson Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, successfully piloted a six-week nationwide biometrics exercise in the lead up to its General Elections on December 7, 2012. That exercise registered 15 million voters in a six-week period. Ghana’s success in implementing a biometric voter registration system within just six shorts weeks in 2012 can be attributed to several factors:

1. Political Will and Support: The decision to implement biometric voter registration was strongly backed by both the government and the Electoral Commission of Ghana. This strong political will helped streamline the process and ensure adequate resources were allocated.
2. Collaboration with International Partners: Ghana worked with international agencies and experts who provided technical and financial support. This partnership allowed for expertise in setting up the biometric systems quickly.
3. Efficient Logistics and Planning: Ghana’s Electoral Commission set up a detailed logistical plan for deploying biometric registration equipment to over 26,000 polling stations across the country. This planning ensured the registration process was well-coordinated and timely.
4. Existing Infrastructure: Ghana had relatively well-established electoral infrastructure in place, which allowed for the rapid deployment of biometric systems. The systems were built upon existing voter registration processes, which helped with integration.
5. Mobile Registration Units: In areas with less access to centralised polling stations, mobile registration units were deployed to bring the registration process to the people. This helped overcome logistical challenges, especially in rural and remote areas.
6. Public Awareness and Cooperation: There was significant public outreach and awareness campaigns, educating citizens on the importance of biometric registration. This helped improve participation and cooperation from the general public.
7. Timely Implementation and Coordination: The process was carried out efficiently due to good coordination among different stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission, local authorities, and other logistical support teams.
8. Technology and Equipment: Ghana invested in appropriate biometric technology, including fingerprint scanners and voter ID cards that featured photographs. The technology used was both cost-effective and efficient for the time frame.

As a result, Ghana’s Electoral Commission was able to complete the biometric voter registration process within six weeks, detecting and eliminating double registrations, including a significant number of fraudulent entries. This success story demonstrated how effective planning, political support, and international collaboration can make a challenging task like biometric voter registration feasible in a short time.

During Ghana’s General Elections on December 7, 2024 biometrics played an important role – from voter registration, database deduplication as well as bi-modal biometric verification (face and fingerprints) of the 18.3 million registered voters who were eligible to be verified biometrically on election day.

In 2012 general elections for voter registration Ghana used the system supplied by GenKey which was later criticised for failures. Technology from other suppliers was later used for the 2024, 2016 and 2020 elections.

The original article first appeared here