State Election Commission secures biometric devices for Brevnica vote

The State Election Commission (SEC) of North Macedonia has implemented a temporary solution for the upcoming extraordinary elections in Brevnica following the expiration of a five-year maintenance contract for biometric fingerprint devices. The contract with the provider, Dermalog, expired in August.

SEC President Bojan Maricic stated that a procurement of approximately 200,000 euros was used to update the functionality and data of the specific devices required for the 24 polling stations in Brevnica. German engineers worked alongside local experts to prepare the hardware for Sunday's vote.

While the expiration of the long-term guarantee raised concerns regarding the potential for legal challenges to election results, Maricic maintained there is no reason for such disputes, as the technical specifications and conditions remain consistent with previous standards. Meanwhile, independent IT experts are conducting an analysis of both hardware and software to determine the scope of future public procurement, which may involve either software updates or a complete replacement of the devices.