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MEC Chief Elections Officer Willie Kalonga said in Lilongwe on Monday that the body has taken into consideration various concerns, risks and logistical challenges inherent to the implementation of the system.

"We are still scrutinising the matter internally," said Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, an official of the country's Election Commission.

He said the law will have to be amended if the use of ink were to be scrapped.

Up to two million people -- mostly from neighbouring Indonesia and Myanmar -- work in Malaysia illegally, authorities say. Those arrested for working illegally or overstaying are deported but many try to return.

A pilot system, implemented at several entry points like the Kuala Lumpur International Airport since late last month, requires visitors to give prints of both index fingers, immigration spokesman Abdul Haidir Mohamad Sukor said.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the system, which was studied and tested for one and a half years by the ministry, had so far been implemented in several entry points since June 1.

"We have started (using) the biometric system, but a glitch was detected at the Singapore-Malaysia border over the past few days and we are in the midst of solving it."

Touted to be the first-of-its-kind “Bio-Visa” to be introduced in the world, those who do not comply with the Immigration Department’s proposed Biometric-Visa will be slapped with a “Not to Land” (NTL) notice and turned back.

Many foreigners misuse their social visit passes and stay on in Malaysia to work illegally, including taking part in vice activities.

According to records, China and India nationals form the largest number of visitors to Malaysia.

As many as 1.25 million Chinese tourists and 693,056 Indian tou-rists came to Malaysia last year alone.

Covering all 96 entry points, this security effort is meant to register and monitor foreigners from their arrival until departure, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

In parliament, Yassin explained that foreigners will have their thumbprints taken and processed within 20 seconds upon arrival at the immigration check-point.

Touted to be the first-of-its-kind “Bio-Visa” to be introduced in the world, those who do not comply with the Immigration Department's proposed Biometric-Visa will be slapped with a “Not to Land” (NTL) notice and turned back.

Election Commission chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said he hoped this would finally lay to rest all sorts of allegations.

Phantom votes are found when the number of votes reported is higher than the number of ballots cast.

EC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission would first have to scrutinize the system before the implementation.

“Although the system was capable of detecting multiple voting and ensuring transparency, it needed to be scrutinised before being implemented because it would be very costly,” Abdul Aziz said in a statement.

He said once the system had been implemented, foreign workers would be tracked via a database and have their thumbprints recorded to prevent them from abusing their visas and ensure that they were in the country legally.

“One of our concerns is that foreign workers who arrive here with a legal working permit end up overstaying after it expires. We hope to have the system in place by October,” he said after launching the “30-hour Famine Countdown 2010” to aid the poor at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil here yesterday.

The system has been designed to quickly and easily capture the necessary biometric information for issuing the travel document. In addition, it facilitates consolidation of the data with the visual information system of the European Union, the VISA Information System.

Each new identity card to be introduced next year would contain an electronic chip containing the individual's health record, Communications Minister Austin Gatt told Parliament yesterday.

Moving the second reading of the Central Registry Bill, he said the information would be linked to Mater Dei Hospital, health clinics and, in time, to general practitioners' clinics. Eventually the individual's banking information could be stored on the ID card, the use of which could be extended as an alternative to the passport and even the credit card, where small amounts were concerned.

The new law declares that “it is the policy of the State to establish a clean, complete, permanent and updated list of voters through the adoption of biometric technology”. It was passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate in December 2012.

Chris Bowen, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, announced today that a digital photograph and fingerprint scans will be collected from everyone applying for a protection visa within Australia.

"This initiative will assist in establishing the identity of protection visa applicants who arrive in Australia but are often unable to provide sufficient documentation to prove their identity, and strengthen our ability to detect inconsistent immigration claims," he said.

After a long wait, a lean woman in a sequined red sari, three children in tow, has finally made it to the head of the line. Her name is Kiran; like many poor Indians, she uses just one name. She and her school-age brood stare curiously through the grille at the people and machines on the other side. Eventually, an unsmiling man in a collared shirt lets them into the big open room. People crowd around mismatched tables scattered with computers, printers, and scanners. Bedsheets nailed up over the windows filter the sun but not the racket of diesel buses and clattering bicycles outside. Kiran glances at the brightly colored posters in Hindi and English on the walls. They don’t tell her much, though, since she can’t read.

I have lost count of how many times my biometrics have been taken by the Nigerian government and its authorised agents. I have been researching to make sure there is no disease associated with too much biometrics. Thankfully, I have not found any yet. But at the rate we have been collecting biometrics — especially fingerprints — in Nigeria, I have no doubt that we are the most "biometricised" country in the world. At the slightest provocation, we are called forward to come and surrender our fingerprints. There may be a genuine reason for the craze, but I still cannot put my finger on it. Perhaps, I should simply keep my fingers crossed.

My hopeless romance with fingerprinting started long ago. The earliest I can remember was in 1991 when we were asked to register to vote in the general election — although I am sure I did register for the local government elections conducted by the military government earlier than that. We registered at every election time. In those days, it was a simple ink-on-the-thumb and thumb-on-the-paper process. It meant absolutely nothing, anyway. On the day of election, there was no way of crosschecking if it was the same registered voter that turned up. Nobody was qualified or equipped to analyse the thumbprints. Nobody could really spot multiple registration.

The government in Leon, in Guanajuato state, is aiming to create the most secure city in the world.

The country's sixth largest city has introduced scanners which can identify up to 50 people a minute without requiring them to stop and stand in front of them.

"The legal, technical and financial conditions are ready to start the process of issuing this identity document," Felipe Zamora, responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican Interior Ministry, told journalists Thursday.

The documents, which will include the eye's image as well as fingerprints, a photo and signature, will be 99 percent reliable, Zamora said.

Dies soll mit dem flächendeckenden Einsatz von Irisscannern geschehen. In einem ersten Schritt sollen Gerichtsgebäude, Polizeistationen und Sicherheitskontrollen mit den Scannern ausgestattet werden.

In den nächsten drei Jahren soll im Rahmen von Phase zwei die Ausstattung von Banken, öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln, Krankenhäusern und andere hoch frequentierten öffentlichen und privaten Orten folgen. Dies berichtet Fastcompany.com.