"QUESTION 1: Why use Card Readers?
Answer: For the first time in Nigeria’s
electoral history, electronic voter
authentication system, with the aid of
smart card readers, is being deployed
for the 2015 general elections. Using
Card Readers has enormous
advantages, which include:
Once configured, the Card Reader can
only read Permanent Voter Cards
(PVCs) issued by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Any person that shows up at the polling
unit without a PVC or with a card not
issued by INEC will not be able to vote.
The Card Reader reads the embedded
chip on the PVC, not the barcode, and it
shares a secret code with the PVC; thus
it is impossible to falsify the cards.
The Card Reader authenticates the
identity of the voter by cross-matching
his/her fingerprints with that stored on
the embedded chip. No person can vote
using another person’s PVC.
The Card reader keeps a tally of all
cards read, comprising the details of all
voters verified as well as those not
verified, and transmits the collected
information to a central INEC server via
GSM data service.
Information transmitted to the server
will enable INEC to audit results from
polling units, as well as do a range of
statistical analysis of the demographics
of voting.
Collation officers will also be able to
use information transmitted by the Card
Reader to audit polling unit result
sheets and determine whether
accreditation figures have been altered.


Question 2: Is the usage of Card
Readers for 2015 elections legal?
Answer: The use of the Card Reader for
the purpose of accreditation of voters is
one of the innovations introduced by
the Commission to improve the integrity
of the electoral process. It does not
violate the Electoral Act 2010, as
Amended, or the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as
Amended. It adds value to the process
in line with the yearnings of Nigerians
for credible elections, and accords with
international best practices. Whereas
the Electoral Act prohibits the use of
electronic voting, the Card Reader is not
a voting machine and is not used for
voting. The Card Reader is used only for
accreditation of voters, and only
accreditation (and not voting) data is
transmitted by it.


Question 3: How does the Card Reader
work?
Answer: The Card Reader uses a highly
secure cryptographic technology that is
used commonly in devices that need to
perform secure transactions, such as
paying terminals. It has ultra-low power
consumption, with a single core
frequency of 1.2GHz and an Android
4.2.2. Operating System. The INEC staff
operating the Card Reader will scan the
PVC of each voter to verify its
genuiness before allowing the voter to
get accredited. It takes an average of
10 to 20 seconds to authenticate a
voter.


Question 4: How long is the battery life
of the Card Reader?
Answer: The Card reader has a
3200mAh battery, which can lasts for
about 12 hours in continual usage
when fully charged. The device
hibernates when not in use to save and
lengthen the battery life.
Question 5: Who operates the Card
Reader at the Polling Unit?
Answer: An Assistant Presiding Officer
(APO) at the polling unit has the
responsibility to operate the Card
Reader. Poll officials that will operate
the Card Readers have received
extensive hands-on training and are
well equipped to handle the task. The
Commission has also painstakingly
outlined the operational procedures in
its ‘Approved Guidelines and
Regulations for the Conduct of 2015
General Elections’.



Question 6: Have the Card Readers
been tested ahead of the 2015 general
elections?
Answer: The Card Reader units have
been broadly subjected to simulation
Quality Assurance, Integrity and
Functionality tests and INEC has full
confidence in their performance for
election purposes. The device has also
been subjected to Performance and
Conformance Test, both locally and in
Texas, United States, laboratories by
the Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) Research Centre and found to be
of the highest quality grade. Besides all
these, and with additional time resulting
from the rescheduling of the 2015
general elections, the Commission has
directed that Stress Test be conducted
on the Card Reader device in mock
election scenarios – two states in each
of the six geo-political zones – ahead
of the new election dates. (Details of
this exercise will be unveiled by the
Commission next week.)


Question 7: Can the Card Reader fail to
function?
Answer: Going by the results of tests
already conducted, it is highly unlikely
that the Card Reader will fail on Election
Day. Still, INEC has drawn up serial
intervention plans in the unlikely event
of the Card Readers failing.
Should there be a challenge with battery
power for the device, the Commission
has procured more than 35,000 back-
up batteries that can be rapidly
deployed.
If the device itself fails in the course of
accreditation, the Commission has
procured more than 26,000 spares that
can be rapidly deployed in replacement
within the scheduled accreditation
hours of 8a.m. – 1p.m. Whatever time
is lost on these scheduled hours in the
course of replacement will be added
and accreditation extended beyond
1p.m. to compensate for the lost time.
In the extremely unlikely and isolated
event that a faulty Card Reader can’t be
replaced within the scheduled
accreditation hours, INEC has come to a
firm agreement with political parties that
the exercise be repeated the following
day rather than revert to manual
accreditation.
These procedures, which registered
political parties have agreed to, have
been written into the ‘Approved
Guidelines and Regulations for the
Conduct of 2015 General Elections’.


Question 8: What if the Card Reader
verifies a voter’s PVC but his/her
fingerprints cannot be authenticated?
Answer: The Commission has come to
an agreement with registered political
parties on what to do: namely that if a
voter’s PVC has been read and it is
evident that he/she is the legitimate
holder of the card, but the fingerprints
cannot be authenticated (or he/she
doesn’t have fingers), the Presiding
Officer of the voting point will complete
an incident form and the voter will be
accredited to vote. Party Agents and
Observers would be there to witness to
this.


Question 9: Is it possible to accredit all
voters who turn out within the
stipulated hours for accreditation using
the Card Reader?
Answer: The accreditation of a voter,
using the Card Reader, is estimated to
last an average of 10 to 20 seconds per
voter. Even if we double this time to 20
to 45 seconds for planning purposes,
and working on the basis of a maximum
of 750 voters per voting point, and
using a generous projection of 70%
voter turnout (the average being 54%
from past elections), which equates to
525 voters, the card reader will need
6.5hours to process all the voters. This
is well within the operating time for the
elections as well as the battery life of
the Card reader.


Question 10: How is the Card Reader
programmed?
Answer: To prevent fraudulent use, the
Card Rader is configured to work only
on Election Days. In addition, the device
is configured to specific polling units
and cannot be used elsewhere without
requiring reconfiguration by authorised
INEC personnel.



Question 11: How has the INEC’s Card
Reader addressed the problems
experienced in other countries in the
sub-region?
Answer: The challenge with a few of the
Card Reader devices in Ghana, for
instance, during the country’s 2012
general elections was the battery power,
apparently because the affected devices
were not fully charged. It was in
learning from this experience that INEC
designed the Card Readers to be used
in the 2015 elections with 12-hour
battery life in active usage, and also
procured more than 35,000 units of
back-up batteries. The imperative of
adequate charging of the Card Readers
is underscored during the trainings of
election personnel."

What you fail to tell us is how many minute does it take to accredit one person (one minute) multiply one minute by 5 hours you will three 300. the questions then is, in polling unit where you have more than one thousand registrant what happen to the remaining seven hundred after 5 hours elapse.

denko:
What you fail to tell us is how many minute does it take to accredit one person (one minute) multiply one minute by 5 hours you will three 300. the questions then is, in polling unit where you have more than one thousand registrant what happen to the remaining seven hundred after 5 hours elapse.

Who failed to tell you?
Me or INEC.

Maybe you didn't read the post very well or just want to be mischievous. Because it is stated clearly there that it'll take 10/20 seconds to get a person verified.

So do the maths, that's approximately 3-6 persons for a minute. Which means 180-360 persons for an hour.

So if you have about 1,000+ voters. 5 hours should be enough, going by this calculation.

Dont be suprised that that card would end up verifying ATM cards as valid for the election.

simplemach:
Dont be suprised that that card would end up verifying ATM cards as valid for the election.

LOL, Come on bros, you're trying to downplay the effectiveness and integrity of INEC here.

Well, I pray they deliver.

I av my reservations on anything 'electronics' especially in dis part of d universe.....but let's see how it pans out

Abbycite:
I av my reservations on anything 'electronics' especially in dis part of d universe.....but let's see how it pans out

Yes we all have our reservations, but as they say a TRIAL WILL CONVINCE YOU.

ShehuAba:

Who failed to tell you?
Me or INEC.
Maybe you didn't read the post very well or just want to be mischievous. Because it is stated clearly there that it'll take 10/20 seconds to get a person verified.
So do the maths, that's approximately 3-6 persons for a minute. Which means 180-360 persons for an hour.
So if you have about 1,000+ voters. 5 hours should be enough, going by this calculation.

ShehuAba:

Who failed to tell you?
Me or INEC.
Maybe you didn't read the post very well or just want to be mischievous. Because it is stated clearly there that it'll take 10/20 seconds to get a person verified.
So do the maths, that's approximately 3-6 persons for a minute. Which means 180-360 persons for an hour.
So if you have about 1,000+ voters. 5 hours should be enough, going by this calculation.

I WAS IN THE FIELD OF TRAINING TOO I KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING THE EXPERTS USE 1 MINUTE TO ACCREDIT ONE PERSON. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE TRAINED THEY MIGHT END UP ACCREDITING ONE PERSON FOR 3 MIN. SOLUTION TO THIS CARD READER BROHAHA IS TO USE FRIDAY FOR ACCREDITATIONS AND SATURDAY FOR ELECTIONS.