Gemalto has 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 enrolment kits to support a comprehensive update of the country’s national voter register.
Gemalto’s fully portable Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations will enable 18 000 enrolment centres to rapidly acquire digital photographs, fingerprint and signature records of citizens, and instantly issue personalised voter cards for upcoming general elections.
Gemalto will also “train the trainers” for CENI and provide comprehensive maintenance and support for this voter registration project, which represents one of the largest ever.
Gemalto’s Coesys Mobile Enrolment stations feature a ruggedized, suitcase-style design and can be deployed virtually anywhere across the country. CENI will use the Coesys Mobile Enrolment stations to ensure efficient and quality acquisition of voter’s personal details and biometric data that will be used to add new eligible voters, as well as clean and update existing records in the national voter register ahead of the elections.
In particular, the use of irrefutable biometric data will help identify and eliminate duplicates. CENI is responsible for managing and operating the entire enrollment process, and consolidating the voter registry.
“We needed a reliable partner to facilitate our ambitious program, which we expect will enrol up to 45-million voters,” says Corneille Nangaa, president of CENI. “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.”
“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,” says Frederic Trojani, executive vice-president for government programmes at Gemalto. “Above all else, it provides the Democratic Republic of Congo with a trusted foundation towards free, fair and transparent elections.”
