Smart Card Reader and Elections in Nigeria: a Study of the 2019 General Elections

Enhancing the trust and confidence of voters in an electoral process is a significant factor that should be encouraged in an election. It creates a sense of apathy among voters who decline to participate in an election when they feel their votes may not eventually count. The process of selecting those public affairs must be adjudged to be free, fair and credible to a high degree for the result to be widely acceptable, otherwise it could lead to protests or outright cancellation of the election which may result in the loss of time and resources invested in the process. In order to reduce the level of disapproval of election outcomes and to ensure that only registered voters cast their votes, voter accreditation must be devoid, therefore, focused to explore the use of biometric smart card for voters' verification and identification in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria, the challenges encountered in the process and the factors responsible for such challenges, as well as find out smart card device in subsequent elections Nigeria. Free, fair, and credible elections are central to electoral democracy and hold the leaders accountable. The finding of this study shows that most of the challenges encountered with its use caused by intentional human interference. Also, lack of adequate backup power supply for the smart card areas also served as a flaw to the effective working of the smart card reader. This study recommends that elections should be constitutionally enforced by the country's legislators. In addition to this, educating and enlightening the general voters, political parties and party elites on the functioning of the smart card reader system, including proper personnel training should be carried out across the country.