“Those are consoles that contain information about voters. An ID card as an identification document in this case serves to be swiped through the device in order for photos and information from the electronic database to be displayed on the screen. A member of the voting committee shall determine by looking at the display whether the person in front of them fit the face in the photo,” Boljevic said.
According to him, the consoles only help members of the voting committee to identify voters and it has not been possible in the electoral process so far, and not to reveal forged ID cards as claimed by the Democratic Front.
“It was not their purpose. By this, any attempt of ID cards forgery has been stultified, because it is impossible to forge a photo and information in the electronic database that will appear on the screen,” Boljevic concluded.
S&T: The purpose of the device is not to verify validity of the document
Renowned Austrian company S&T, which won the tender for bidders for the electronic voter identification system, also responded to the DF’s allegations. They also said that the purpose of the devices was to detect forged identification documents.
“The devices are designed to perform the electronic identification of voters on the basis of reading MRZ OCR code, which is printed on the personal document of a voter. The same type of device is used, for example, by airline companies for passengers’ checking in at airports. The purpose of this device is not to determine validity of a personal document, but to rapidly, accurately and efficiently read the personal data contained in the said MRZ code,” S&T stated.
The company stated that the devices did not have forensic purpose and that other types of devices were used for that purpose, adding that those devices require more expertise to be used.
“These devices are larger in size and their price is many times higher. The S&T company is one of Europe’s IT leaders when it comes to delivery of systems of high integration and reliability. The devices for reading documents that we delivered to the Montenegrin Interior Ministry are made by renowned EU manufacturers and designed for reading OCR encoded cards and OCRB encoded passports and machine readable visas. The device is pursuant to EU standards for identity documents: ICAO 9303 & ISO/IEC 7501-1 (2 and 3-line MRZ), ISO/IEC 18013-1, MRZ EN 60950-1: 2006, EMC: FCC 47CFR Part 15 Class A; EN 55022: 2006 + Amd1: 2007; EN 55024: 1998 + Amd1: 2001 + Amd2: 2003”, it was concluded in the response.
