Case study - Haiti Voter ID Card

For the first time in the 200 years since Haiti won itsindependence, the government planned the first democratic electionsto be held in 2006. To facilitate both local and national electionsin the country, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) of Haitisigned a contract with Digimarc to supply four million secure voterID cards to its citizens. The program was rolled out on time and onbudget, and was the first time Haiti had provided any type ofnational identification to its citizens.

After the election, the voter ID cards became the de factonational identification of the country, enabling citizens toestablish their identity when seeking access to a wide range ofgovernment and commercial privileges, from applying for a passportto opening a bank account.

Secure, photo-based voter ID cards play a critical role incountries around the world in fostering democratic elections and,often, in serving as the secure credential for conducting businessat banks, airports, government agencies and retailestablishments.

According to Rosemond Pradel, an official with the ProvisionalElectoral Council, prior to the issuance of the Digimarc voter IDcard, more than half of Haiti?s 8.3 million citizens had noidentity documents of any kind. ?The goal from the first was tocreate a reliable identity card for the first time in the country?shistory,? said Pradel, ?How can you run elections if you can?t evenidentify most of your electorate??

The citizens of Haiti agreed. On February 7, 2006, when Haitiheld its first election using Digimarc?s secure, photo-based voterID cards, more than 3.5 million Haitian citizens ? over 80% ofthose eligible to vote ? anxiously waited in line with their newvoter ID cards. Many had walked for miles from their mountainvillages or through some of the most dangerous neighbors inPort-Au-Prince to wait in long lines in the hot sun just to get thecards. And they waited again on Election Day, determined to vote nomatter how long it took.

Patrick Saint-Tume, 26, stood in line for hours with his newvoter ID card clutched in his hand. ?We?re here to vote forparliament because they will vote on the laws that will make ourcountry better,? he said.

?The election?s important, but it?s the card I really need,?said Marie Terese Simplice, who had walked for five hours to gether card. ?Everyone told me that if you?re going to do anything inlife, you need this card.?

Voter ID Card Technology

The Haitian voter ID cards include a digital photo, signature,address, and fingerprint information. They are made of highlydurable and secure card materials and contain a variety of covertsecurity features, including micro-printing, ultraviolet ink andGuilloche security design. Digimarc designs secure identitydocuments by layering in market-leading security features to meetthe security requirements of the issuer.

Digimarc designed the voter identity document and produced allof the cards at Digimarc?s secure central issuance printingfacilities in Mexico. This facility also produces 30 million voterIDs for the Instituto Federal Electoral of Mexico, the governmentagency responsible for issuing voter ID credentials in Mexico. Theoperation includes secure inventory of all materials and a controland audit process that accounts for every piece of material andidentification document produced. The system issues IDs to eligiblevoters for all federal elections and most local elections and ? asthe de facto form of ID for many Mexican citizens ? is commonlyused for identification at banks, stores, and governmentagencies.

In addition to being used in Haiti and Mexico, Digimarc?s secureidentification card solutions are used in several key programs inLatin America, including: Costa Rica, Honduras, Brazil, Colombia,and Puerto Rico ? in total the company provides ID solutions to 20countries worldwide.

Haiti has not only achieved democratic elections, but theimplementation of this secure ID solution now facilitates Haiti?scitizens? participation in other rights and privileges affordedcitizens of other countries ? to prove they are who they say theyare when conducting business, interacting with the government, andpursuing their lives as citizens of a new democracy.

About Digimarc

The evolving role of the driver license in the US market ? fromevidence of competency to a means of personal identification to asecure credential ? the events of 9/11, and the rapid advent of theInternet information age have stimulated a demand for a level ofsecurity in today?s state-issued driver license which will allow itto be used with confidence as the de facto standard forestablishing citizen identity in the United States, as well as anobstacle to identify theft.

Digimarc remains dedicated and focused on deliveringhigh-quality, secure driver license issuance solutions that providecitizen access to a growing number of services and privileges, suchas: applying for a passport, authorization to operate a motorvehicle, boarding an airplane, or purchasing age-restrictedproducts.

Digimarc secure driver license solutions enable states to detercounterfeiting, enhance traffic safety and national security,combat identity theft and fraud, and facilitate the effectivenessof voter ID programs. The company has partnered with statecustomers through every major transition in driver license systems? and has issued billions of credentials worldwide, includingtwo-thirds of the states? driver licenses, and identificationsolutions for more than twenty countries. Digimarc is the onlycompany in the world focused on meeting the unique and growingneeds of today?s driver license issuers.

IDMarc digital watermarking is rapidly being adopted by manyjurisdictions in the US responsible for driver license issuance asthe standard for cost-effective, multi-purpose reading devices thatenable reliable, cross-jurisdictional authentication of driverlicenses and IDs that are secured with digital watermarks. Readingapplications span law enforcement, retail sale of age-controlledproducts, banking, and border crossing. Digital watermarkingtechnology has been proven over the past decade in a variety ofcommercial products, and has been applied to various authenticationand high security applications worldwide.