IEBC Double Registration Evidence

[Omollo]

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[vooke]

Nyanza is leading in double registration. Homabay has 5% of its voters double registered.

[Omollo]

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[Omollo]

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Have they established the cause of the double registrations?  Accidental, malicious, technical? 

They say that they are publishing the register a week before elections.  I expect that they are taking the interim period to clean up the register, including double registrations.  Is that correct?

[Omollo]

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001247278/kpmg-report-exposes-major-security-gaps-in-register

[Omollo]

Have they established the cause of the double registrations?  Accidental, malicious, technical? 

They say that they are publishing the register a week before elections.  I expect that they are taking the interim period to clean up the register, including double registrations.  Is that correct?

1. The system was disabled to allow that
2. The database has serious flaws

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Have they established the cause of the double registrations?  Accidental, malicious, technical? 

They say that they are publishing the register a week before elections.  I expect that they are taking the interim period to clean up the register, including double registrations.  Is that correct?

1. The system was disabled to allow that
2. The database has serious flaws

The fact that they can have double registrations of the same ID, such an elementary feature, screams incompetence at a minimum.  Maybe worse.  They always have these kinds of problems even with half a decade to fix them. 

Given that level of incompetence or worse, how can anyone assume they are correct when they promise that "the system was disabled to allow that"?

[MOON Ki]

The fact that they can have double registrations of the same ID, such an elementary feature, screams incompetence at a minimum.  Maybe worse.  They always have these kinds of problems even with half a decade to fix them. 

It's like reading a comic-book entitled "Elections in the Republic of Bananas".     And this is the "IT powerhouse of Africa".   

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

The fact that they can have double registrations of the same ID, such an elementary feature, screams incompetence at a minimum.  Maybe worse.  They always have these kinds of problems even with half a decade to fix them. 

It's like reading a comic-book entitled "Elections in the Republic of Bananas".     And this is the "IT powerhouse of Africa".   

Also the fact that IEBC spends so much on its IT systems.  They are either being taken to the cleaners, or they are part of a collusion to take wanjiku to the cleaners.

[Globalcitizen12]

windy
I heard that ID numbers are not unique so that may explain why an ID number may have multiple registrations
The 1st of january is used for all people iwithout a specific date of birth.. Most people born before 1950 do not know their excat date of birth. thus GOK defaults to 1st of January to identify them..

Most of these allegations after hearing the other side I have concluded are just propaganda.. ON security I agree..

[MOON Ki]

windy
I heard that ID numbers are not unique so that may explain why an ID number may have multiple registrations
The 1st of january is used for all people iwithout a specific date of birth.. Most people born before 1950 do not know their excat date of birth. thus GOK defaults to 1st of January to identify them..

I don't see how that explains anything.   Even if people have the same names, same dates of birth, same villages of birth, same whatever ... it is still possible to ensure that ID numbers are distinct.   Here is how to do it quite easily:

(a) Generate a random (or psuedo-random) number of a sufficient number of digits.

(b) Check to see if that number is already allocated.   
      - if not, then allocate it to the present  person, who otherwise has "same everything" as a zillion others
      - otherwise, repeat from (a)

Surely, even the Government of Kenya ought to be able to do that.

[Globalcitizen12]

I think the incompetence goes to the agency that issues IDs.. I bet you there is no coordination and so numbers are just given. IF you been to an ID issuance place in Kenya the process is very manual nothing is automated. Most of these places you still have to complete a paper application that is sent to an office somewhere in my place i think it goes to Nairobi. One time my ID came back with someone else photo

[MOON Ki]

I think the incompetence goes to the agency that issues IDs.. I bet you there is no coordination and so numbers are just given.

Yes, the numbers are just given, but on what basis?   Even without coordination and with localized manual systems---all of which are already hard to explain in "The IT Powerhouse of Africa"---it is not difficult to devise a system that would have a much, much, much lower probability of duplication than appears to be the case here.  Here is one:

- The ID number will consists of the digits that make up the date of birth, the digits that make up the individual's height (in centimetres), the time (24-hr digits) at which the application is finalized, and an identifying number of the place of issue.

Beyond the elections, the apparent inability of GoK to uniquely distinguish those of its citizens that are "in the system" has all sort of implications.   What do these duplicates mean terms of tax collection, entitlements to government services, ..., any sort of legal-anything in which one must produce an ID? 
....
But that's assuming that the problem really is incredibly, amazing incompetence.    The other possibility is that what we have here is deliberate mischief.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

The ID number will consists of the digits that make up the date of birth, the digits that make up the individual's height (in centimetres), the time (24-hr digits) at which the application is finalized, and an identifying number of the place of issue.

Beyond the elections, the apparent inability of GoK to uniquely distinguish those of its citizens that are "in the system" has all sort of implications.   What do these duplicates mean terms of tax collection, entitlements to government services, ..., any sort of legal-anything in which one must produce an ID? 
....
But that's assuming that the problem really is incredibly, amazing incompetence.    The other possibility is that what we have here is deliberate mischief.

Yep.  It is trivial to sort out uniqueness.  What makes it even more difficult to understand IEBC's situation is that they even have the benefit of physical biometric information.  If it's incompetence, it's the kind that requires a special effort.  It's almost as if they need some inbuilt unreliability in the system.

[RV Pundit]

Not changing default password is incompetence but having non unique IDs is design feature for system that is offline... Quit the hysteria.Iebc are deploying 41000 machines in some of the remotest and dangerous place.Do you want each device connected to central database everytime to check for uniqueness.

[MOON Ki]

Not changing default password is incompetence but having non unique IDs is design feature for system that is offline... Quit the hysteria.Iebc are deploying 41000 machines in some of the remotest and dangerous place.Do you want each device connected to central database everytime to check for uniqueness.

National IDs are issued by the IEBC?   Regardless of who is issuing them, who is checking what, and how many machines they have, they don't have to be "connected to central database everytime to check for uniqueness".  It is sufficient to be connected just once, at any time, and in any period.   People have months to do this sort of thing, and "machines in some of the remotest and dangerous place" is no excuse.

[RV Pundit]

How many database or systems have you design so far - start from there - because I have designed several and this iebc system totally make sense to me. Those who double registered - can be later flagged  - what you're proposing is that IEBC gadget should each be loaded with 30M (assuming that number of ID holder in kenya) records of ID numbers - all should check with other 41,000 devices to make sure no one has double registered in another station.

This gadgets are offline - the reg clerks carries it and end of the week - they take it to IEBC office and data is synced back to Nairobi - and that is why IEBC can issue stats of registered votes weekly -- of course some in pokot or turkana or mandera can even take a month before they sync back.

National IDs are issued by the IEBC?   Regardless of who is issuing them, who is checking what, and how many machines they have, they don't have to be "connected to central database everytime to check for uniqueness".  It is sufficient to be connected just once, at any time, and in any period.   People have months to do this sort of thing, and "machines in some of the remotest and dangerous place" is no excuse.

[MOON Ki]

How many database or systems have you design so far - start from there - because I have designed several and this iebc system totally make sense to me. Those who double registered - can be later flagged  -

The elections are next month.   When is the later?

what you're proposing is that IEBC gadget should each be loaded with 30M (assuming that number of ID holder in kenya) records of ID numbers - all should check with other 41,000 devices to make sure no one has double registered in another station.

You are confusing issues.   Ensuring uniqueness of IDs is quite different from the registration for elections. 

This gadgets are offline - the reg clerks carries it and end of the week - they take it to IEBC office and data is synced back to Nairobi - and that is why IEBC can issue stats of registered votes weekly -- of course some in pokot or turkana or mandera can even take a month before they sync back.

So IEBC can actually check for double registration?   At the end of every week or whatever?    And these ones weren't flagged then because?

[vooke]

While no error should be tolerated, questionable entries are about 3%