If the EMB uses technology to collect voter registration data, is biometric data captured and used during registration?
Gabon
The introduction of biometrics has emerged after the 2009 presidential election, following the finding by the Gabonese authorities of the existence of errors in the electoral roll close 120,000 duplicates. Early 2013, nearly six months after the contract award to the company Gemalto, a joint committee ad hoc, chaired by the Prime Minister has been established to propose modalities of implementation: the official biometric identification of Gabon (IBOGA).
Even though the National Autonomous and Permanent Election Commission (CENAP) does not collect voter registration data, biometric data is captured during registration by the Ministry of Interior. According to the National Democratic Institution’s 2016 report, the Ministry of Interior “informed the delegation of the government’s efforts to use the biometric voter registry as a means to effectively curb double registrations and “voter nomadism” (where voters register in locations other than their home constituencies in return for payment from political candidates). According to the Ministry, even if a voter registered more than once, double voting is no longer possible as the voter’s name would only appear once on the voters list, and the voter would be assigned to the first location where he or she registered.”
