How technology is used in relation to paper voter lists?

Ghana, Public Elections Regulations, 2016, accessed 27 September 2018

Identification and verification of voters

32. (1) A polling assistant may, before delivering a ballot paper to a person who is to vote at the election, require that person to produce a voter identification card in order to establish that the person is the registered voter whose name and voter identification number and particulars appear in the Register.

(2) In the absence of a voter identification card, the polling assistant shall identify the name and particulars of the voter as recorded in the name reference list.

(3) The polling assistant shall scan the barcode of the voter in order to establish by facial recognition the identity of the voter.

(4) The voter shall go through a biometric verification process through the use of the biometric verification device.

(5) Where the biometric verification device fails to verify a registered voter and the red light is shown with a voice message “REJECTED,” the polling assistant shall

(a) inform the agents of the political parties present at the polling station;

(b) complete a Verification Form, as set out in Form Seven of the

Schedule in the presence of the party’s candidate or agent; and (c) hand over the completed Verification Form to the Verification Officer.

(6) The Verification Officer shall draw a horizontal line across the voter’s barcode in the register to indicate that the voter has been manually verified.

(7) At the end of the voting and before counting of the ballots, the number of persons manually verified shall be entered in the second box in C6 on the Statement of the Poll and Declaration of Results Form as set out in Form Eight of the Schedule.

EU Election Observation Mission, Ghana General Elections, 2016, FINAL REPORT, accessed 27 September 2018

“Biometric voter verification at the polling station is the main safeguard against impersonation and multiple voting. The biometric verification device (BVD) pre-programmed for the particular constituency verified a voter’s identity by matching the scanned fingerprint with the barcoded data in the voter register. In a positive change to 2012, a voter whose fingerprint verification failed was still allowed to vote providing the other data (photograph and personal details) could be read by the BVD and s/he successfully passed the manual verification by the presiding officer.”

However, when biometric verification device fails to verify a registered voter manual verification is also possible.