Election technology in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: a comparative analysis of smart card reader and bimodal voter accreditation system

Abstract

Electoral technology in Nigeria has been studied in general terms. However, no effort is made to conduct a comparative study of voter accreditation technology. This study fills the gap by identifying the factors that necessitated the adoption of the SCR-Smart Card Reader and the BVAS-Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, the functionality of the SCR and the BVAS, and the effectiveness of the SCR and the BVAS. The research is anchored in instrumentalist theory, with qualitative data obtained from primary and secondary sources. SCR and BVAS were introduced in 2015 and 2023 to curb multiple voting, impersonation, and fake election results, and to improve the overall credibility of the election process. SCR has an unfriendly user interface, low memory, and uses fingerprint technology. In contrast, the BVAS has a user-friendly interface, high memory capacity, supports 3G and 4G networks, and enables faster accreditation via either facial or fingerprint recognition. To this end, BVAS is more effective than SCR. The research concluded that challenges such as low-speed accreditation and a single accreditation model associated with SCR were addressed in adopting the BVAS. BVAS should be upgraded to 5G, and network availability should be a criterion for the placement of polling units.