58

Voter registration is a key component of the electoral process that is too rarely considered by researchers. This exploratory study reveals what an election observer responsible for registering rural voters saw on site in Jigawa State in northern Nigeria. Ndubueze O. Nkume-Okorie and Gérard Chouin offer a view from the inside, describing the system and its implementation, as laid out by Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC). In addition to describing this ambitious biometric project—the first of its kind in West Africa—the paper presents a narrative and a detailed analysis of the interactions between federal government officials and male and female voters at the registration site. The author outlines the areas of agreement and dissent surrounding the electoral process, and in its shadow we see the stakeholders and elements of a muted success.