Kyrgyzstan to Use Biometric Data in October Polls
Critics of the scheme say their right to vote is now being made conditional on submitting data.
Kyrgyzstan to Use Biometric Data in October Polls
Critics of the scheme say their right to vote is now being made conditional on submitting data.
When Kyrgyzstan holds its next parliamentary election on October 4 this year, only people who have registered their biometric data with the authorities will be allowed to vote.
Most adults have entered their fingerprints under a system made possible by a law passed last year. Although it is not compulsory to submit biometric data, it is required in order to vote.
Officials say the system will guarantee free and fair polls, ruling out both bureaucratic error and deliberate fraud on election day. Some voters are unhappy about being forced to handover biometric data in exchange for the pre-existing basic right to vote. Others point out the substantial risk that the computerised data will be lost or fall into the wrong hands. The central election commission dismisses those fears, arguing that the data is encoded so that a thief would be unable to view it and misuse it.
Aytunuk Nurdinova is an IWPR contributor in Kyrgyzstan.
