Teething problems in the voters registration process reported:

http://www.voiceoutng.com/2011/01/voter-registration-starts-on-shaky-note/

@ texxapete, good analysis but no forget TP, clearance for port ooo and logistics

I have been wondering at how hard it is for the biometric device now that people are registering,  what will it be like when people are voting?
Corp members now register people without the biometric device! How then will the problem of multiple registration be handled, Observing from Kano

@ yunusbell, have u tried registering more than once with the same serial as the 1st and the machine accepted it?

xoxo, :

The finger Print scanner is a mess. It takes multiple tries to get a finger scanned and the ten fingers have to be scanned, slowing down the whole thing.

Why are we scanning all ten fingers? what happened to right and left thumb prints only? I can compromise on adding the index fingers? but all ten?!! WTF?


I don't even know why we are scanning fingers at all sef .

what's the point? it's not like we will have the records in a decent database two weeks after the election






MORAL: if You cannot organize an effective voter registration process with all the billons spent, You most probably cannot govern well.

Y cnt we do tins rite d 1st time in 9ija?3rd day of inec registration-yet mst centres are yet 2 hav their ddc machines.was infrmd dis afternun dat 10 machines meant 4 d lga am based,culdnt b accountd 4(yet 2 arive)-hope dis isnt a ploy 2 compromise d 4th comin elections.
2day was quite eventful,ws able 2 register about 70+(was forcd 2 skip fingerprints in a few instances.wats beats my imagination is inec staffs nonchalant attitudes-we hv run out of laminating materials n al wat dy culd sugest was 4 us 2 print d voters card n gv 2 registrants 2 go laminate themselves!wat am embarrassment!

@ texazzpete

texazzpete:

The laptop is Zinox. I think Haier makes the printer or the fingerprint sensor.

The DDC machines were purchased at a cost of $1770.
Using market prices,
Laptop = $700
printer = $70
webcam = $60

Fingerprint scanner = $100

Total cost of the hardware being used should never be more than $1000. People don chop with this DDC contract.

Total

I am a corper and would like to point out that the zinox laptops have INEC specific operating systems. That may have added to the cost, but then i also think $1,700 is too much.

Things improved signicantly ystday,my host community is a bomb,i cover 8villages,i discovered a new method of using d finger scanner,pls dnt skip it because u r doing them great harm.Just follow this step
place the finger without shivering,at a time,and and apply a little presure as if to press it hard,but nt dat hard as 2 break the glass,for about 10sec,look at d screen in d lapi,u will see d ful loop,but if not ful,remove and repeat again.Dnt shake ur hand,and ask d person 2 free his hand for u 2 use.I was surprised ystday i registerd 63people like this,and am gonna be movin round 2 teach other aro1's.Pls unlike ysday wen i registerd only 13peeps.
The funny aspect is dat people ar using it as a witch hunt,

No strike abeg, na ur fatherland u de serve. God bless u.

Funny enough, majority of the issues here were reported during the last voters register. We had 4 yrs to get it right. I pointed out at the time that  wht happens when the battery pack runs down? what provisions had INEC made for constant electricity?

Would not have been better to have these machinces setup in local government offices, where you can setup about 15 /20 machines, with constant electricity, and probably technical support to assist when things fail?

What about kitting out moible buses, with generators, 10 machices in each, with a technical support staff. these would be the village / remote crawlers

The process has not been thought through. i wonder if INEC would give us a 4day progress update

ikay88:

@ texazzpete

I am a corper and would like to point out that the zinox laptops have INEC specific operating systems. That may have added to the cost, but then i also think $1,700 is too much.

Do you mean INEC specific software? rather than OS. Dont see the need to develop a new OS for INEC.

And yes the cost is prohibitive

ikay88:

@ texazzpete

I am a corper and would like to point out that the zinox laptops have INEC specific operating systems. That may have added to the cost, but then i also think $1,700 is too much.

As someone pointed out earlier, it's definitely the software and not a separate OS.
There are thousands of DDC machines in use for this election. Even in the extremely unlikely event that the software cost nearly $100000, the average cost per machine will be less than $100.

Snail speed of everything is the major challenge. I think they have to extend the date being given.

thers so much complain about the machine and the rest of them. I, for instance have registered in P/H and it didnt take me 10mins to do dat, i ve my card Laminated now ready for voting. The problem with Nigeria is Nigerians themselves. We are trying to get tings done the right way, but unfortunately, some people are just on d corner just waiting for negative things the will say abt the process. Even in America tins like dis happen.So lets stop dis our attitude and join hands together wth INEC and make sure dat dis process is a success.

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and text the motto to as many as possible on your GSM (and/or email) and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

Naija : A giant tribe of monkeys.

I think delays are a result of the incompetence of the INEC officials, substandard devices and INEC's poor evaluation of the process.

hackney:

Naija : A giant tribe of monkeys.

Your foolishness knows no bounds

ikay88:

@ texazzpete

I am a corper and would like to point out that the zinox laptops have INEC specific operating systems. That may have added to the cost, but then i also think $1,700 is too much.

Operating system? What you saw is a basic software either locked to the desktop or just in full screen.

ikay88:

@ texazzpete

I am a corper and would like to point out that the zinox laptops have INEC specific operating systems. That may have added to the cost, but then i also think $1,700 is too much.

As someone already corrected you, it is not an INEC specific operating system. If INEC actually employed a local company to help in developing the ware, it is highly likely the reason why the finger printing issue is as high as it is today. With a budget of about $500 million, I did expect INEC to purchase from a reliable and heavily tested source. The hiccups being experienced point to poor software and there is no excuse for this with that budget.

hackney:

Naija : A giant tribe of monkeys.

IDI-OT
is that all you got ?

@ texazzpete, kobojunkie, Mobinga & Sochan

Why are you guys finding it hard to believe that it is an OS? I never stated that it was designed from scratch or that it was a highly complex one, rather I think its linux based. Anyway if you want to get technical, an OS is actually software, but thats not the point i'm trying to get across.

The main point I tried to convey is that the cost of the laptops include the cost of designing (specifically for INEC) the OS/software (choose one) and the inherent security and compatibilty features introduced.

I am a microsoft certified IT professional, and i've been setting up networks in schools outside the country, so please don't think because I am a corper, that I am not comfortable with IT.

During training I saw many corpers had the skills and knowledge to operate the machines comfortably. Of course, there were a few who had no clue and were timid users, mostly females (one confessed she had never ever touched a laptop before). When listings came out, a number of people I expected to be picked were not, and some of the people who had no idea were put in charge of the machines (ARO1).

Advice for thumb printing, is to make sure your hands are clean (not oily or sweaty). Place firmly over the scanner till it reads fully on the screen. Also make sure the machine is in the shade.

Oh yea, texazzpete, I am very sorry if my first comment appeared to be an affront to your breakdown of the costs. I simply wanted to add my own 2 cents to your analysis. Again, i'm sorry.

ikay88:

@ texazzpete, kobojunkie, Mobinga & Sochan

Why are you guys finding it hard to believe that it is an OS? I never stated that it was designed from scratch or that it was a highly complex one, rather I think its linux based. Anyway if you want to get technical, an OS is actually software, but thats not the point i'm trying to get across.

Well, even the simplest OS ware out there is not as customizable as you make it seem. Can you at least take a pics to help us get a better idea of what you are referring to?

You posit that the cost of the laptop includes the cost of designing the OS and immediately I sense something is off. Why should INEC be spending over $700 PER LAPTOP to customize the OS ? Why? Even fortune 500 companies and US departments would not attempt such stupidity. So, I suggest you probably NOT spread that unless you are sure!

Government magic has started; many people are beginning to loose interest. Even if its money they are sharing, why should i go and queue up under the hot sun for hours without end?

I'll try to take a pic, but am not sure if that is completely legal yet. They (INEC) told us (corpers) not to let any non-staff behind the laptop for whatever reason. Also i don't want to be taking such pics in front of voters, i'll snap it as tomorrow starts

Kobojunkie:

Well, even the simplest OS ware out there is not as customizable as you make it seem.

As OS are not so easily customizable, how much do you reckon it would take the contractors to customize the one I described?

Kobojunkie:

You posit that the cost of the laptop includes the cost of designing the OS and immediately I sense something is off. Why should INEC be spending over $700 PER LAPTOP to customize the OS ? Why? Even fortune 500 companies and US departments would not attempt such stupidity. So, I suggest you probably NOT spread that unless you are sure!

I'm sorry, I don't think you understood what I said. I was suggesting to texazzpete that 'maybe' the cost of the DDC setup he stated may include the cost of the OS. (after all when you purchase a loaded laptop, the price includes the cost of the OS and software included right). I don't know where you got the '$700 per laptop' figure from, because I never stated it, perhaps you have me confused with someone else. Thanks

I'm beginning to feel like i'm talking too much now, and like Otokx said its really hot and i should really be working now.

Texazzpete: the DDC setup includes but is not limited to a back-up 500GB external hard disk (hope all are 500GB), fingerprint scanner by Haier, printer by HP. Just wanted to clarify.

Will be back in the night.

4RR50W

ikay88:

I'll try to take a pic, but am not sure if that is completely legal yet. They (INEC) told us (corpers) not to let any non-staff behind the laptop for whatever reason. Also i don't want to be taking such pics in front of voters,  i'll snap it as tomorrow starts
As OS are not so easily customizable, how much do you reckon it would take the contractors to customize the one I described?

I don't know any company with such an inflated ego, and money to waste, that would even go as far as to customize the OS. Even the slightest customization job would need to be tested at least half to a full year before it is deployed.  Even walmart does not have a customized OS, talk less of JPMChase or HSBC.

ikay88:

I'm sorry, I don't think you understood what I said. I was suggesting to texazzpete that 'maybe' the cost of the DDC setup he stated may include the cost of the OS. (after all when you purchase a loaded laptop, the price includes the cost of the OS and software included right). I don't know where you got the '$700 per laptop' figure from, because I never stated it, perhaps you have me confused with someone else. Thanks

OK . . . .  I was trying to figure out why the machines cost as much as they do there. By the way, if they Zinox machines, do you have any idea who comparable Zinox laptops cost out on the market?

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wif d rate tins r going, FGN may likely increase d date 4 reg., thereby elongating d time our younger ones will stay out of school!!!

People are complaining about the scanner, du they plug the scanner before they boot the system or they plug after the system has finished booting? this myt pose a problem if it is pluged after the system has finished booting. As par the battery being down, where ever (INEC office) they go to drop or sumbmit the device each day, it should be charged over the nyt. I was an Ad-hoc staff during the National ID registration and that was wat was done to save us the embarassment of low battery.

@Ikay

Customization ko, customization ni, abeg, if the software is linux then the total cost should be cheaper as linux is freeware, the total cost of everything is not more than $850, no be to capture finger prints and data and put am inside software, simple RDBMS like MySQL with some tables and forms will satisfy the need, computer science part 2 assignment for university.