Kyrgyzstan tests biometric voter identification
By Arslan Sabyrbekov
October 1st, the CACI Analyst
Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on October 4, 2015, with 14 political parties competing for 120 seats. The official campaign kicked off on September 4, with leaders of political parties touring the country and presenting their programs. Regional observers anticipate that the election will, unlike most other regional elections, actually be competitive. During the elections, Kyrgyzstan will for the first time in its election history use its controversial biometric registration process, using fingerprints to verify citizens’ identity before voting. In a recently conducted public test, the equipment revealed some of its drawbacks, leading to wider criticism that the process is unconstitutional since citizens who have failed to submit their data cannot vote.
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