Democracy by IDs and Fingerprints? The Politics of Voter Registration and Voter Registration Reform in West Africa

A reliable voter list is a necessary precondition for free and fair elections. However, while most Western industrialized states have developed the administrative capacities necessary to register and identify citizens before the introduction of universal suffrage, most developing countries have never hold reliable state records. Voter registration thus poses important challenges to new democracies. Many developing countries have recently introduced significant administrative and technological innovations to their voter registration process. Looking at three West African countries - Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana - this paper argues that the impact of these reforms has been mixed. Two important observations emerge from West African experiences. First, the three goals pursued by voter registration reform are not always complementary or attainable at the same time. Second, hopes that technology - particularly biometric technology - could act as the ‘magic stick’ able to solve African states’ difficulties with voter registration are misplaced.