The technicization of electoral rolls and material participation in Cameroon

Studies on electoral biometrics in Africa have critically examined this technology, highlighting the dynamics underlying its adoption across the continent and the limits of its implementation in electoral processes. The present article continues this history of techniques but shifts the analytical focus to the technicization and material participation associated with this technology. Based on a study conducted in Yaoundé with Elections Cameroon, it analyses the way in which biometrics, used to create a secure and reliable electoral roll, has served as a means of engaging with the question of democracy. In so doing, this article contributes to the ‘materiality turn’, endeavouring to grasp the political qualities of biometrics, its social construction, and its role as a significant participant in the democratic utopia. The analysis is rooted in the work of Noortje Marres on contemporary forms of participation, which, in addition to informing citizens about public issues, is increasingly geared towards transforming the material practices of everyday life. This study shows that, far from being a prerequisite for democracy, electoral biometrics is perceived by some as a ‘technology of engagement’, the agency of which enables it to articulate with other participation technologies to make voter registration operations agile, and to resolve certain controversies surrounding the organization of free and transparent elections.