ZEC is ready to roll

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is today expected to take delivery of the last batch of hardware and software of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (Afis), which will weed out multiple biometric voter registrants from the main database.

As preparations for the 2018 elections reach an advanced stage with 5,3 million people having registered to vote so far, ZEC is buying generators, printers, cameras and high-speed copiers. A tender for the generators to be used at non-electrified polling stations, and printers and copiers for processing voting-related stationary, closes on Tuesday.

In an interview, ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said Afis would be running soon.

“We are expecting the remaining software and hardware of the automated fingerprint identification system to arrive on the 15th of this month. Then it will be tested, configured and will start running a few days after that,” she said.

The de-duplication hardware and software are supplied by New Yorkbased company IPSIDY.

The United Nations Development Programme provided the server which will store voter registration data. Chinese company, Laxton Group Limited, was awarded the tender to provide Biometric Voter Registration kits last year.

Justice Chigumba said additional voter education material was ready and awaited dissemination.

“Voter education material is ready, it’s just waiting for the provisional voters’ roll to be completed then we will start disseminating the information,” she said. “It will be the same as we did for BVR — road shows, fliers, dramas, TV and radio messages.”

Justice Chigumba also said at least 30 000 people registered as voters in a mop-up exercise.