INEC Explains A-Z About Electronic Card Readers

SAN FRANCISCO, March 04, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) explains the A-Z about its voting card readers in this question and answer statement below:

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.

(i)             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.

(ii)           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.

(iii)          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.

The supposed technology failures during Kenya’s general elections in 2013 had nothing to do with card readers, as the country used computer poll books for accreditation. The challenge was rather with the electronic system used in transmitting results, and not card readers.


https://thewillnigeria.com/news/inec-explains-a-z-about-electronic-card-readers/

Okay
FTC this is special dedicated to me and my wife on our marriage on Saturday March 23rd

YoungFr:
Okay

Mind you this was the Card Readers used in 2015 unlike the ones deplored for usage in this year's election that can serve dual purposes.

1. 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.

2. 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.

Did you read what you posted?

PDP are MUMU

Everyone that voted in 2019 will know the election was free and fair. Yes, pocket of violence especially in the SS and SE.....overall, the election was miles ahead of what I have witnessed in 2011 and 2015.
In those years,the likes of Saraki, Akpabio and Ajimobi cannot lose this 2019 elections..... e.g. for Ajimobi, miracle figures would have surfaced from Ibadan SW, his stronghold. The use of card readers really dealt with politicians... even if they will rig, they can't rig more than the numbers of accredited voters, if they do..it is over voting and outright cancellation..No miracle figures anywhere.
The rigging tactics employed in 2019 was for strong politicians to cause mayhem in their opposition strongholds so that elections there can be cancelled....Just like what is happening in Rivers...that is the best they can do.
As for the Presidential election, the North has duped Atiku, he should move on...E actually lose square and wide!

INEC is smarter than this.
They have the entire records.

Don't mind Atiku and his Atikulosers gang of hopeless wailers.

Atiku and PDP's Dubai startegy is simple: after losing the election, do everything possible to discredit it. If this fails, continue to insist that Atiku won the election by releasing some bogus claims and figures to that effect in a bid to keep our supporters busy for the next four years.

Awon werey!

las las 9ja na scam

and the result from the server room is different from the ones you announced... so many people will go to jail

Atiku knew that it transfers numbers of voters accredited

This OP is a big full stop, period.

Information from INEC server were transmitted by the different collation officers and not from the card readers.

APC are jittery already.

Inec is stupid
Card readers that were reading cloned pvc

Don't argue with me because i was an ApO2 in Benin city

Card reader is a scam!!!

naijapips04:
This OP is a big full stop, period.

Information from INEC server were transmitted by the different collation officers and not from the card readers.

APC are jittery already.

And does it translate to who those accredited voters voted for?

And did the manually announced results at collation centers differ from what INEC Chairman eventually announced?

Common sense is rare o.

INEC tempered with the card readers, some state had cases if over voting but nothing was done about. don't be surprised if INEC actually used it to transmit data.

SillyMods:


And does it translate who those accredited voters voted for?

Common sense is rare o.

let me test your intelligence even tho I know it's useless.

what do collation officers transmit ?

Keep giving yourself false hope till it is dashed. Card reader have been used twice in Nigerian presidential election n it as always been the same no single change to the device but foolishness won’t let you ask corp member that partook in the electioneering process.

Ratello:

Mind you this was the Card Readers used in 2015 unlike the ones deplored for usage in this year's election that can serve dual purposes.

naijapips04:


let me test your intelligence even tho I know it's useless.

what do collation officers transmit ?

Atikuloser, collation officers only transmit results manually. It's what has been announced manually that is latter stored in INEC database.

The card reader only sends record of accredited voters and not result of the actual voting because the card reader wouldn't know who voted for which party.

ATIKU HAS A VERY STRONG CASE HERE.......

if Inec has admitted card readers only generate accredited voters, how come what the INEC server generated as accredited voters differs from what Inec announced as accredited voters when the card reader is assumed as the only means for accreditation?

For example... Osun and all others.

Yes,

It's just the accreditation data that we want.

How can accredited votes be 1.2m yet final results says 1.8m?

SillyMods:

Atikuloser, collation officers only transmit results manually. It's what has been announced manually that is latter stored in INEC database.

The card reader only sends record of accredited voters and not result of the actual voting because the card reader wouldn't know who voted for which party.

So you know that there's an INEC database. Good. when that database data is not tallying with what was announced globally. so INEC would have to show us individual what different collation officers transmitted to them as the result and the disparity between that and what was announced globally as the state results.

Alcamerooni is such an unhinged illiterate, just like his inherited piglets.

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adioolayi:
PDP are MUMU

Everyone that voted in 2019 will know the election was free and fair. Yes, pocket of violence especially in the SS and SE.....overall, the election was miles ahead of what I have witnessed in 2011 and 2015.
In those years,the likes of Saraki, Akpabio and Ajimobi cannot lose this 2019 elections..... e.g. for Ajimobi, miracle figures would have surfaced from Ibadan SW, his stronghold. The use of card readers really dealt with politicians... even if they will rig, they can't rig more than the numbers of accredited voters, if they do..it is over voting and outright cancellation..No miracle figures anywhere.
The rigging tactics employed in 2019 was for strong politicians to cause mayhem in their opposition strongholds so that elections there can be cancelled....Just like what is happening in Rivers...that is the best they can do.
As for the Presidential election, the North has duped Atiku, he should move on...E actually lose square and wide!

Hmmmm, like seriously.... How can a sane person compare this election to what happen in 2015..

If u call this election free and fair....

Then I give up on this nation, the masses are actually the problem not the leaders....

Corrinthians:
Alcamerooni is such an unhinged illiterate, just like his inherited piglets.

Is that all u have to say about that has been said there?

Is ur buhari intelligent enough to even know what a server is? Or database? If Atiku had won the elections we all know that Nigeria by now would have turned to South Sudan.

Allow the man to challenge the results until INEC convinces him at the courts that he didn't win the elections as he is claiming right now. Intelligent people are happy he is challenging the results of the election because it will expose some facts, lapses etc which could be worked on to improve on subsequent elections.

All people like u know is insult insult insult.

naijapips04:


So you know that there's an INEC database. Good. when that database data is not tallying with what was announced globally. so INEC would have to show us individual what different collation officers transmitted to them as the result and the disparity between that and what was announced globally as the state results.

You're missing the big picture which is that the card reader stores and transmits number of accredited voters but NOT THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF VOTES OR WHO VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTED FOR.

Number of accredited voters is different from number of votes in the sense that there could be accredited voters who didn't vote (I personally saw voters leaving behind one or two ballot papers unmarked. Many got the three ballots but only used one!).

Again, the card reader didn't record the party a voter voted for. So, how did Atiku arrive at those figures from the so-called INEC server which doesn't contain such?

Parada:
Keep giving yourself false hope till it is dashed. Card reader have been used twice in Nigerian presidential election n it as always been the same no single change to the device but foolishness won’t let you ask corp member that partook in the electioneering process.

You are wrong. The card reader used in 2015 is different to the one used this year

naijapips04:


So you know that there's an INEC database. Good. when that database data is not tallying with what was announced globally. so INEC would have to show us individual what different collation officers transmitted to them as the result and the disparity between that and what was announced globally as the state results.

This is the point atiku is holding on to..... This is the actually reason most of them are trembling...

But to unseat buhari using court is impossible, let's just move on and try again 2023

PDP never thought an era like this will come....

APC will still hit thier own water low, is just matter of time

SillyMods:

Atikuloser, collation officers only transmit results manually. It's what has been announced manually that is latter stored in INEC database.

The card reader only sends record of accredited voters and not result of the actual voting because the card reader wouldn't know who voted for which party.

No, there is an interphase on the Smart card reader that says E-collation, once you are in this phase you send the total accredited number of voters and ALSO the specific number of each political party votes, Mind you this concluded election, most party were not duly represented on the smart card platform, nonetheless the major contenders I. e PDP and APC were represented and the result ascribed to each political party in conformity with the results obtained from elections broad sheets from polling unit were transmitted to INEC, So I wouldn't know wether INEC sieves the results from accreditation at there back end server.....

naijapips04:
This OP is a big full stop, period.

Information from INEC server were transmitted by the different collation officers and not from the card readers.

APC are jittery already.

Did Inec ANNOUCE results based on candidates names or party??

PDP has results sheets from polling units why not use them??

Have you seen the sheet Atiku is banking on??

2019 presidential election is the Scam of the century