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04.11.2011 Research Findings

Using Biometric Identification Technologies in the Election Process

04.11.2011 LISTEN
By Kodjo Joseph

Biometric technologies, allowing the auto¬matic identification of people using voice pat¬terns, eye scans, handwriting style, faces, hands or fingerprints, have been suggested for use in the election process for eliminating fraud. Fingerprinting, hand shape, and eye scanning have been used in the United States in driver licensing and social service programs. Fingerprinting systems are being introduced into the election process in several countries, such as the Philippines, Jamaica, Argentina, and Cambodia. What are the prospects for introducing these technologies into our voting systems?

We will look at the possible voting applica¬tions in this paper and conclude that biomet¬ric technologies could be effectively used, even on a voluntary basis, to detect and deter vot¬ing fraud. However, this use would require fundamental changes in the way we register voters and would necessitate the creation of government-controlled databases of physical and behavioral characteristics of at least some voters. Although such databases are inherently "fuzzy" and far Less threatening to personal privacy than phone books or driver's licenses, changes in voter registration procedures to enable biometric data collection could be seen as contrary to the intent of the National Vot¬ers Rights Act of 1993 and would likely require enabling federal legislation.

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