Pakistan, Islamabad – March 7, 2014 – The multiple benefits offered by voting technology, and particularly biometric voter authentication, were the main topics of discussion during a forum held by Smartmatic along with their local partner Roseace, in Islamabad.
Members of the Pakistani Parliament, representatives from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), political parties, international granting agencies, non-government organizations, and the local media were amongst the attendees to this important event.
British Deputy High Commissioner, John Tucknott greeted the ECP’s progress in its proposal to improve Pakistan electoral system and also highlighted how countries all around the world can benefit from voting technologies.
Participants learned about the possibilities new technologies are offering to improve election administration, and Smartmatic´s role leading the industry.
Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for the Asia-Pacific region, offered a presentation titled “Transparent, fast, and 100% auditable elections” detailing how Smartmatic’s voting technology works. “We are very pleased to share Smartmatic’s global experience with the audience and demonstrate our technology solutions to give the decision makers a solid basis for any further election automation plans,” commented Flores during the presentation.
The role of biometrics in elections is continuously increasing as countries realize its potential to enhance transparency and efficiency in elections. Each year more countries authenticate the identity of their voters using this technology.
Smartmatic, thought leader in the election automation industry, has had important experiences improving elections through biometrics.
In October 2012 Venezuela made history by having 100% of its voters biometrically authenticated in its 2012 presidential election using Smartmatic technology. This project marked the first time in the world that a nationwide election was fully automated, from authentication to the broadcast of official results.
After his presentation, Flores demonstrated the Smartmatic Automated Elections System SAES – 888 voting machine as well as the handheld biometric authentication device VIU – 100.
