The Electoral Commission of Jamaica ECJ has entered an agreement with suppliers of a modern compact handheld device to electronically identify electors at the polling station.

The Electronic Handheld Device (EHD) is an easy-to-use, high performance android-based device that provides an efficient and reliable method of authenticating electors’ identity on election day.

The software has the capability to identify accurately and verify electors as well as generate statistical data and reports.

The ECJ is undertaking major upgrades to its technology infrastructure as part of its thrust toward digital transformation.

The organization recently completed several improvements including the installation of its upgraded biometric identification system.

The Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is used to process large-scale biometric data such as performing a one-to-many search of electors’ fingerprints against the fingerprints in a current database to detect matches and prevent duplication.

The acquisition of the ABIS will maintain the integrity of the national voters’ list by ensuring electors can only be registered once, eliminating duplicate registrations of the same individual.

With two million electors on the voters’ list, modern biometric technology is vital to an efficient and effective voter registration process.

A core principle of the ECJ is researching and adopting new and improved technology.

The commission has identified several areas of improvement for the electoral system, including reinforcing the organization’s cybersecurity framework, upgrading hardware and software for the maintenance of the electoral database and live scan.

The ECJ has invested just over $684 million over the past three years to upgrade its technology infrastructure for greater security and efficiency to meet the evolving requirements of its electoral management functions.

The commission is also exploring opportunities to offer online transactions for some of its services, including voter pre-registration and transfer requests.