( CNN ) -- Political systems in Africa are habitually characterised as nascent , highly personalized and fractious . Elections are portrayed as democracy at an embryonic stage . As Sierra Leoneans head to the polls for the third time since the end of the civil war in 2002 , a different narrative is unfolding -- one of innovation and cutting-edge technology . An often overlooked aspect of the current electoral cycle in Sierra Leone is the use of biometric technology to capture thumb prints and facial features in the registration of voters . `` Credible elections start with credible voter registration , '' remarked Christiana Thorpe , chief commissioner of Sierra Leone 's National Electoral Commission , during a presentation at Africa Research Institute in London in July 2011 . For Thorpe , a bloated or inaccurate voter register always has a negative effect on the electoral process . The optical mark reader system used to register voters in Sierra Leone 's 2002 and 2007 elections was manual and only catered for one-off registration . Voter identification cards , which relied on Polaroid photographs and a cold laminate seal , were vulnerable to tampering . Biometric systems allow for the creation of a permanent electronic register which can be updated as new voters become eligible or existing ones die . They capture data unique to an individual , in addition to biographical information , and can identify whether someone has registered more than once by centrally matching fingerprints . In Sierra Leone , the system allows for people to move to a different electoral constituency without the need to re-register . Biometric technology has been adopted to help address electoral fraud and increase the transparency , and credibility , of the electoral process . See also : DIY Africa : Empowering a new Sierra Leone . Biometric voter registration in Sierra Leone follows a regional trend . In 2005 , `` La Commission Electorale IndÃ©pendante '' in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ) used biometric technology to register more than 25 million voters ahead of the country 's first democratic elections in four decades . In Nigeria , some 65 million people had their pictures taken and fingerprints scanned in preparation for presidential and legislative elections in 2011 . Ghana registered more than 12 million voters using biometrics in 2012 . In Kenya , after protracted disputes over procurement , 15,000 biometric registration kits have arrived ahead of the elections scheduled for March 2013 . Mozambique , Zambia , Malawi , Rwanda , Senegal and Somaliland have also used biometric technology to register voters . Technology is only as good as the way it is deployed . In order to identify multiple registrations -- the principal merit of the system -- clean data must be submitted . Finger prints and photographs must be clear and unsullied , which requires trained and capable staff . For African countries conducting elections with strict -- and limited -- budgets , sophisticated technology is not always the best option . In the DRC , it is questionable whether the advantages of a biometric over a manual registration system justified the cost -- a staggering $ 58 million . In Sierra Leone , the integrity of the electoral register has still been questioned by opposition parties who accuse the government of covertly registering individuals under the legal voting age and foreign nationals . Acceptance of the voter roll ultimately depends on the political circumstances in the country . The greatest limitation of biometric voter registration is that it only counters the symptoms -- not the causes -- of electoral fraud . In Sierra Leone , there is no historical evidence of a deliberate strategy by any political party to rig elections through multiple registrations . All previous electoral registers have erroneously contained names of the deceased , the under-age and foreign nationals . But the most significant type of electoral misdemeanor has been physical stuffing of ballots and false recording of results by temporary election workers . Both the All People 's Congress and Sierra Leone People 's Party , when in power , have at times used their position to fund political campaigns and buy voters . This practice remains widespread . Political parties continue to organize and condone the intimidation of voters , often perpetrated by their youth wings . Biometric technology offers little scope to tackle these transgressions . Where electoral management is weak , manipulation of polls persists , regardless of the accuracy of the voter register . In Kenya 's 2007 elections , incumbent president Mwai Kibaki defeated his main rival , Raila Odinga , by a margin of 230,000 votes . The result contradicted opinion polls and the parliamentary ballot . Allegations of systematic fraud and dysfunction , particularly within the Electoral Commission of Kenya ( ECK ) , further discredited the elections . In the months leading up to the vote , President Kibaki replaced 15 of the 22-person ECK with new commissioners considered to be his close allies -- none of whom had experience running an election . In the immediate aftermath of the vote , election observers were barred from entering tallying centers for 48 hours . Election officials announced results from constituencies without supporting documentation from polling stations . Deficiencies with the tabulation of votes were so great that Samuel Kivuitu , chairman of the ECK , subsequently conceded that he `` did not know who won the election . '' Expectations about technology 's role in elections must be realistic . Biometric voter registration is not a `` silver bullet '' for eliminating fraud and electoral malfeasance . Where institutions are weak , and perpetrators of electoral crimes are not prosecuted , politicians can find ways to achieve undemocratic ends . Elections are more than just a technical exercise . The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Jonathan Bhalla .
Many African countries require biometric voter ID , says Jonathan Bhalla . In Sierra Leone , biometric technology has been adopted to help prevent electoral fraud . Sophisticated technology is not always the best option , he says .