A voter in Somaliland being identified through the iris recognition-based bio-metric voting system yesterday. (Pic AN)

London, Nov. 14, 2017 (AltAfrika)-Officials in the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland have begun counting votes from a presidential election Tuesday, with a social media blackout expected to last several days until results are announced.

The northern territory, which declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, hopes its third presidential election will bolster its democratic credentials and strengthen the case for independence from its troubled neighbour.

However, the hitch free election or the social media blackout were not the only highlights of the exercise, Somaliland has become the first country in Africa and the world to use the iris recognition-based bio-metric voting system.

This is the scanning of the eye to verify the identity of registered voters before they are cleared to vote.

The machines have been under trial since 2015 ahead of the election held on November 13. It was successful and they made history.

Most countries including  use the fingerprint bio-metric voting system to identify registered voters.

It eliminated the problem of double voting. The disadvantage is mostly technical including the breakdown of machines and the running down of batteries which sometimes slows the process.

These problems did not affect the elections in anyway.

Africanews