ONI chief backs verification system against electoral identity theft ahead of December vote
Reynold Guerrier says citizens should be able to check whether their NINU has been used without consent as parties race to register members.
The director general of the National Identification Office (ONI), Reynold Guerrier, has come out in favor of establishing a verification system that would allow citizens to check whether their identity has been usurped, Le Nouvelliste reported. The concern is growing more pressing as elections approach. According to the outlet, some political organization leaders appear willing to go to great lengths to gather the 30,000 unique national identification numbers (NINU) of members required to register their candidates. Guerrier said he is open to allowing citizens to verify that their NINU has not been used without their knowledge, and has proposed a right of withdrawal for members who did not consent, the newspaper said. Le Nouvelliste reported that more than 8 million membership entries were rejected due to data non-concordance. In a related development, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) modified the electoral calendar. As of Wednesday, September 2, only 21 of 105 political structures had managed to register their 30,000 members, an obligatory step for filing candidacies. The CEP extended the candidate registration period until October 14, affecting several other electoral operations, while maintaining December 13 as the date for the first round of elections.