Dear Editor:

I write to you in response to an article published in the Sunday Observer on July 2, 2017, entitled ‘ID verification to become simpler – developers’.

In the article, Chief Technical Director in the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Office of the Prime Minister, Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart, was quoted in reference to several identification systems. She mentioned that the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) does not offer a verification service in relation to the Elector Registration Identification (Voters ID) card.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that the EOJ does, in fact, have a verification service which has been in operation for over 15 years. The current system allows organizations to access an ID card database to verify the voters’ ID card information of their customers. This system is utilized by financial institutions including banks and credit bureaus. The EOJ has also from time to time, responded to individual requests from companies for authentication of ID cards.
Orrette Fisher

Director of Elections