KINGSTON, Jamaica – the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) and Thales DIS signed a contract representing the formalisation of their partnership in upgrading the Electronic Voter Identification System (EVIS), enabling greater use of technology in accurately identifying electors in future elections.

Representatives from Thales are on a visit to Jamaica to train EOJ technical staff on the use of the Electronic Voter Identification Solution and finalise plans of delivering hand-held devices which will be used in future elections to identif y electors by using their fingerprints. This device is expected to assist in the reduction of time electors spend in lines at the polling stations.

The Thales DIS Mobile Voter Authentication Terminal is an easy-to-use, electronic handheld, high-performance Android-based device that provides an efficient and reliable method of authentication at voting stations.

The updated EVIS software will allow for four main functions, the opening of voting in a verification mode, accurate identification and verification of electors, maintenance of audit logs and lastly the ability to generate statistical data and reports.

“Our EVIS has become outdated and it is used mainly to prevent elector impersonation and multiple voting by persons. We are therefore very hopeful that this partnership with Thales will enable greater effectiveness in our efforts to maintain the integrity of the electoral system as they provide us with upgraded systems and software,” said Glasspole Brown, director of Elections.

The handheld devices are to arrive on the island in September 2022, after which a pilot training will be done to test and modify the system to suit the Jamaican electoral context. The contract will be financed by the Government of Jamaica through the Electoral Commission of Jamaica.

Thales DIS (formerly known as Gemalto) is an international organisation operating in over 200 countries providing products, solutions and active programs worldwide with specific expertise in secure document issuance, biometrics, document readers, authentication, ID management and data protection.