Smart card reader and BVAS: Any difference?

In the quest to improve the integrity of elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has introduced what it called the Bimordial Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as the journey to the 2023 elections progresses. KUNLE ODEREMI gives an insight into the strength and prospects of the technology.

Nigerians are conversant with the technology called the Smart Card reader introduced by the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) in the bid to raise the quality of elections in the country over the years. The deployment of the device on election days in the past had elicited mixed feelings. Then came the Z-Pad, which the INEC used to conduct a few offseason elections.  But the commission has since raised the bar by introducing what is referred to as Bimordal Voter Accreditation System (BVAs). The INEC deployed it to conduct a few bye-elections and the governorship poll in Anambra State last November.  It was not without hitches, which the commission had said were being addressed. But, what is BVAS? How does it work? What are the inherent challenges since no system can be full-proof? How is BVAS remarkably different from the Smart Card readers?

From all explanations given by the INEC, BVAS is said to capture three stages of the voting process: it acts as the Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) during voter registration, performs the voter accreditation on an election day and as INEC Results Viewing Device (IReV Device) to be used for election results upload on an election day. Incorporated into the INEC Voter Enrollment Device, the BVAS is said to com¬bine fingerprint and facial authentication to ensure that the true identity of a prospective voter. Therefore, BVAS performs the functions of both the Smart Card Reader and Z-Pad, as it is designed to ensure fingerprint authentication during the accreditation of voters and eliminate any need for the filing of incident forms.

Some of the technologies the INEC introduced in the past included Permanent Voter Card (PVC), which contains voters’ biometric information in an embedded microchip. It replaced the Temporary Voter Card that was used in the 2011 general election. It is also on record that the commission deployed the electronic card readers with fingerprint scanners for the first time in the 2015 elections. The card reader displayed the picture of the voter so that poll workers can visually establish the identity of the voter against the card, and allows for scanning of fingerprints to check voters’ fingerprints against the biometric information contained in the PVC.

INEC officials are upbeat about the performance of BVAS because the device, according to the authorities, enables human recognition through biometric verification mechanism, using fingerprint and facial recognition. The test-run for the technology took place during the Isoko South 1 State Constituency bye-election in Delta State, and INEC boss, Professor Mahmood Yakubu had used the occasion to underscore the importance of the technology.  Yakubu said: “Only last weekend, we piloted yet another innovation in the Isoko South 1 State Constituency by-election in Delta State. We introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for efficient human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using fingerprint and facial recognition of voters. The result of the pilot in the 84 polling units was encouraging. It took an average of just one minute for the device to locate the voter in the system and another two minutes to authenticate a voter. In terms of the ruggedness of the device and its battery life, no single BVAS was replaced due to discharge of battery. They guaranteed the credibility of voter accreditation by preventing multiple voting or the use of stolen PVCs to vote. The voters were accredited electronically, using the BVAS. The use of the incident form was eliminated. The Isoko South 1 State Constituency by-election was historic in this respect.” He acknowledged that there was still room for improvement, especially in matching the voter’s live image against the image on the register in a few instances due to the quality of pictures of some voters, arising from previous voter registration. Secondly, some polling units were not bright enough when taking the photo for the facial authentication.  Thirdly, there was the age-old problem of thuggery during elections   our officials were attacked and five BVAS devices were snatched by hoodlums. Although this did not affect the elections because we deployed extra devices as part of our contingency measures. The incident is being investigated by the police. We wish to assure Nigerians that the commission will address these challenges, including the installation of a mechanism to disable and track the device in the event of theft by hoodlums.”

Okoye shed light on the technology in an interview at the dawn of the November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra State. He said: “What INEC did is called a technological convergence. An enrollment device is what is being used for the continuous voters’ registration….This will now transform into a Z-pad which will be used for upload of results. It is a three-in-one device. The smart card reader has been phased out.”

Optimism on 2023

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu is confident that the commission would conduct a free and fair election in 2023 following the far0reaching reforms, including the introduction of more technologies into the electoral process. At a meeting with state Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja recently, he recalled how the BVAS was introduced in 2021 and its impact generally. “When the commission introduced the BVAS last year, the compact device was intended to achieve two objectives. First is the verification of the genuineness of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and the fingerprint or facial authentication of voters during accreditation. Secondly, to replace the Z-pad for uploading the polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time on Election Day. So far, the BVAS has performed optimally in verifying the authenticity of PVCs and uploading images of Polling Unit results to the IReV.

Similarly, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye is optimistic that BVAS will further add value to the elections in the country with the commission leveraging the gains and prospects of the mode so far. His words: “We are confident in our judgment that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System will remain a fundamental feature of our accreditation process as it will consign into the dustbin of history worrisome incidents of multiple voting and identity theft that in the past denied the country’s electoral process the desired public trust and confidence. On this note, the Commission will continue to improve on and perfect the technology for subsequent and future elections.”

BVAS has come to stay

Authorities at the INEC say the commission is addressing a few hitches that have charactesired the deployment of BVAS in the bid to enhance the status of elections, and Okoye said its use has come to stay. He said those used to electoral corruption, cutting corners in the electoral process, snatching ballot boxes and ballot papers would never easily accept any change that would deny them. “That is what the whole issue about the BVAS is.  So, let me say it very clearly that the BVAS, as a form and mode of accreditation, has come to stay, and the commission can only keep improving on it, but jettisoning it will not be possible.”

In 2019, PVC and card reader were still used. However, reports indicated that the proportion of voters that INEC accredited with the card reader dropped to under 20 per cent. By 2020, INEC, in a bid to deploy more technology and enhance electoral credibility, introduced the Z-Pad platform. In the Nasarawa Central State constituency bye-election, the Z-Pad was used in place of the card reader in voter accreditation.  A month later, in the Edo governorship election, INEC also used the Z-Pad. But it was largely deployed as an interface with its new INEC Result Viewing, IReV, portal. Shortly after, BVAS was used to replace the Z-Pad aimed at boosting voter enrolment, accreditation,

Another work in progress

After the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council elections, the Resident electoral commissioner, Yahaya Bello hinted that the commission observed challenges in BVAS, but that the commission had trained personnel to address the issues.  “We have registration area centre technicians trained to respond to any malfunctioning of the BHAS and provided transportation for them for swift response,” he said.  Similarly, The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG),  an amalgam of civil society organisations,  also called for improvement in the BVAS, due to technical hitches witnessed during the November 2021 Anambra election that caused delay. TMG vice-chairman, Miriam Menkiti decried the poor function of BVAS.   A stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, was confident that the use of BVAS could take the nation’s electoral process to greater heights. My submission is that the Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) and the earlier smart card readers are vaccines against vote-rigging. Methinks that in no distance future, our electoral system will be one of the most credible, free and fair.” Despite the slight hitch “which is always the case in the early usage of any type of technology,.” Okechukwu said:  “There is no doubt that the card reader and its brother, the BIVAS, will be our saviour. The flip-flop witnessed in Anambra will be our best teacher in future elections.”

REC in Oyo State, Dr Mutiu Agoke spoke on sundry issues in the nation’s electoral system, including the BIVAs and the impact on the series of elections conducted recently in some states. Featuring on an interview programme in an Ibadan-based FM radio station at the weekend, he said the technology was designed to add value to our elections.