[Reader-list] Electoral roll to have photos, fingerprints

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

I wonder what sort of an impression a Nepali will have after reading
the story pasted below?

Sample this bit -

 'Nepal is the third country in South Asia to be introducing an
electoral roll with voters´ pictures, fingerprints and digital
signatures. India and Bangladesh have already introduced such
electoral rolls.' We all know that hardly represents the truth, at
least with respect to India.

The story seems to be some sort of PR job for the smart card industry,
does it not ? I wonder, if the Indian media has ever indulged in a
similar type of myth building exercise, while deliberately deferring
the truth, in order to create a favorable impression, to pave the way
for the eventual introduction of MNIC cards?

Regards

Taha


http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=7345

Electoral roll to have photos, fingerprints  	
  	

BIMAL GAUTAM
KATHMANDU, July 12: The Election Commission (EC) has decided to
replace the conventional electoral roll with a new one that has
voters´ photographs, fingerprints and digital signatures.

The constitutional body took the landmark decision last week in a bid
to check voter rigging that takes place under the existing electoral
roll. The present electoral roll has only voters´ names and addresses,
and this has encouraged bogus voting in past elections.

The decision will come into effect when the EC launches its annual
update of the electoral roll in February/March next year.

“The main objective of this big project is to minimize the risk of
unfair voting in future elections´´ said Acting Chief Election
Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety. “The proposed new electoral roll will
help control the faking of names, addresses and documents in upcoming
elections.´´

Nepal is the third country in South Asia to be introducing an
electoral roll with voters´ pictures, fingerprints and digital
signatures. India and Bangladesh have already introduced such
electoral rolls.

Past elections have seen voters casting their ballots at more than one
polling station. Thanks to a conventional voter list that has failed
to check rigging, the EC receives a huge number of complaints about
bogus voting with the use of forged documents.

The EC is going to launch a pilot project in November/December before
implementing its decision next February/March, said Uprety, talking to
myrepublica.com Saturday.

Under this project, photographic and electronic fingerprint machines
will be used while collecting and updating the electoral roll
electronically.

“An electronically processed electoral roll will be more reliable,
authentic and acceptable in quality so that every citizen will
willingly posses and keep it for multiple uses, including voting´´
said Uprety.

Under the project, particulars about voters will be stored digitally
by around 10,000 government employees. More than 3,000 laptops will be
used to update the list of 18 million voters.

It is estimated that the project will cost Rs 1.8 billion, which works
out to Rs 100 for each voter.

The EC hopes that the data on voters collected in this way can be
helpful for distributing national identity cards, something that the
government has promised to do in the next fiscal year under the
policies and programs it announced on Wednesday.

“Personal details collected by the EC will be authentic and every
government agency can use it for its own purposes,” Uprety said while
urging one and all to support the ambitious plan.