Persol releases game-changing voting solution for biometric elections in Africa.

At a workshop held at Alisa Hotel this morning, Persol showcased their Voter Verification and Voting System to a distinguished group of political party representatives, some civil society groups, interested persons, donor representatives and the media.

Persol’s Voter Verification and Voting System addresses the main deficiencies inherent in the current voter verification kit and current voting process. The solution creates a link between the verification of a voter, the issuance of ballot papers and the final results obtained. The Persol Voter Verification and Voting System answers some of the most poignant questions that emerged from the recent Supreme Court case and the ensuing verdict. For example how to identify “foreign material” ballots, how to prevent transpositional errors and other wrong entries and to ensure secure and accurate collation of polling station results. The Persol Voter Verification and Voting System addresses these and more.

The solution makes redundant the need to understand the meaning of over-voting and ballot-stuffing since neither can occur with the Persol Voter Verification and Voting System. It also minimizes the dependence on presiding officers intelligence, numeracy, ingenuity, creativity or otherwise to prepare accurate statements of polls. Developed almost 2 years ago, Persol were unable to showcase the solution and provide alternatives prior to the 2012 election. The election challenges seen in equipment failure in Ghana and Kenya, and findings during the post-election court challenge in Ghana make this system an imperative for the continent.

Persol is a 17yr old software developer and IT systems integrator with 15 yrs experience in biometric software development. Having deployed biometric systems in the harshest of African terrain and used by people whose working conditions almost completely eliminate fingerprint ridges essential for good quality biometric reading, Persol has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of biometrics. Their deployments have opened them to the opportunities fingerprint biometrics presents and its limitations. Their Voter Verification and Voting System maximizes the potential of fingerprint biometrics and limits the risks. The company also has a fully automated e-voting system but is of the view that Ghana may not be ready for an e-voting system.

The company is making a strong case to the people of this country, voters, public leaders including politicians to show support for a Ghanaian-solution to a continental problem. The company stated that it was willing to perform another trial to a larger group of voters and is hopeful that its solution will be deployed in the upcoming district assembly elections, if even in a pilot scenario. The company is currently pursuing a patent application.