Voter impersonation has been an ever-present threat to election integrity for centuries. Fortunately, recent developments in biometric technology are yielding positive results when it comes to authenticating voters efficiently.
In 2009 Brazil began a slow process of implementing biometric capturing devices in polling stations; And during its last elections –October 2014- it managed to authenticate some 21 million voters (15% of the electorate) using this novel technology.
Venezuela, a leader in election automation, conducted the world’s 1st national election in which all voters (some 18 million) were authenticated biometrically, before casting a ballot.
Experts have recommended the adoption of a two-factor authentication strategy to strengthen this important verification process. Voters should be authenticated using a mix of biographic and biometric information.
A transparent electoral roll, which can be cleaned by using biometric information, is a first step towards a legitimate election and a giant leap towards building trust. To respect election results, the electorate must have confidence in the integrity of the election. Thereby, each voter needs to be properly identified, just as each ballot should be adequately and reliably verified.
Source: http://e-lected.blogspot.com/2014/12/are-biometrics-future-of-e-voting.html
