Will NIDS squeeze out voter ID?

AS THE National Identification System (NIDS) becomes more accepted, other modes of identification will be phased out over time, said Robert Nesta Morgan, who heads the communication unit in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“One of the challenges that we face in Jamaica is that we have a multiplicity of identification documents, which are not identification documents. So your driver’s licence is not an ID but a driver’s licence. Your electoral ID is not an ID but an electoral ID.

“Your passport could be considered some sort of identification because it allows people in another jurisdiction to identify you because you are crossing their borders, but it’s not an effective identification domestically because it comes at a cost, and not everybody within the society may be able to afford a passport,” Morgan stated.

For now, the function of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) will not be affected by NIDS. However, based on the evolution of NIDS, “Government policy is going to have to dictate,” how, or whether, it is affected Morgan said. “The Electoral Office of Jamaica is a special creature; it’s not like a driver’s licence, NIS, TRN. It’s a statutory provision in law determined by the Government,” according to Morgan.

Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart said all countries with NIDS also have an electoral commission.