Oman Conducts First Remote Elections through Biometric ID

On October 29th, The Sultanate of Oman conducted the Shura Council’s member elections through biometric and digital ID technology to provide remote capabilities. Electronic voting was conducted using the Antakhib mobile application, incorporating an advanced biometric and digital ID infrastructure.

Oman employed digital identity verification technology for the verification of over 75,000 voters. Remote voting opportunities enabled 13,800 overseas Omanis to cast their votes electronically.

Oman’s Minister of Interior reportedly revealed that the Antakhib mobile application received positive feedback with 91% of voters opting to register via the application while 9% chose to register through the election website.

uqudo, in collaboration with Tech5,  has provided its biometric-based digital ID platform to facilitate electronic voting for the lower house of the parliament.

The application offers a real-time record of all votes cast, eliminating any chance of result manipulation.

To be authorized for electronic voting, voters are required to use their smartphones to scan their biometric ID cards. This action grants the application access to the NFC chip on the ID. Their identity is then validated by the system using AI-infused facial recognition and liveness detection technologies. In less than a minute, the entire process is carried out without any need for manual interference, ensuring the anonymity of voters’ preferences.

The integration of the biometric-powered platform into the Antakhib mobile app has brought about substantial improvements in the preparation and voting processes. This includes a remarkable reduction in the time required to conduct the entire election, with the process now taking less than a week, compared to the extended three to four months of the past.

Furthermore, this innovative strategy has led to a decrease in the overall expenses related to the voting process, enabling voters to make their representative choices without having to personally attend a polling location and a decrease in the number of election staff required.

Numerous countries are implementing biometric authentication to ensure that only verified individuals receive government services.

The UK government has partnered with the UK Post Office to make the One Login program more accessible for people with lower digital skills. The program which is currently in the roll-out phase has been designed to simplify access to government services for citizens by establishing a single username, password, account, and identity system.

The General Service Administration for the US has announced plans to introduce facial recognition technology to login.gov to provide a more secure and streamlined experience for users accessing government services.