By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement (FNM) Senator Darren Henfield is calling for biometric birth certificates in The Bahamas to strengthen identity verification and prevent fraud.

He said while the country is moving toward biometric voter cards, it is “past time” to apply the same measures to birth certificates.

His comment came during yesterday’s debate to the Parliamentary Elections Amendment Bill 2025.

Government senators praised the legislation as a step towards modernising the electoral process, while opposition senators criticised the government’s rollout of biometric cards as rushed and careless.

“We call on the government to slow down, consult the people and put the safeguards in place before collecting and transferring biometric data,” Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis said.

The legislation, when enacted, will introduce optional biometric voter ID cards embedded with digital fingerprints, facial recognition, and electronic signatures, with the government hoping to roll out the system in January.

“It only makes sense that as we seek to eliminate fraud from our voting process, we also address the issue of our birth certificates, which lack biometric features,” Mr Henfield told the Senate.

Integrating biometrics into the birth certificate, he said, would immediately improve security for identity verification.

“As a country with so many challenges in this area, it only makes sense,” he added.

Currently, the Registrar General’s Department issues paper birth certificates, with no biometric data collected or linked to the process. 

Senator Henfield suggested adding such features, saying: “If we can put it on a voter’s card, if we can put it on a passport, we can certainly put it on a birth certificate.”

“We know some of our far-flung Family Islands may not have access, but some form of biometrics needs to go on a birth certificate.”

The former Foreign Affairs minister also expressed concern over recent cases involving fraudulent documents used to obtain Bahamian passports.

“Now imagine, they turn up to the parliamentary commissioner and said you have my passport information, I am a Bahamian, I want my voter’s card,” Mr Henfield said.

Mr Henfield argued that it is time to move beyond the traditional paper birth certificate, noting that lost certificates currently require affidavits to obtain replacements, which then qualify an individual for a passport.

“You’re getting your passport based on your certificate, so I say let’s do the birth certificate too. I don’t care how much it costs, because it is very important that we do it.”

He urged the government to move with haste toward finalizing an integrated e-system that screens passport applications against the backdrop of the Registrar General’s Office, the Department of Immigration, National Insurance Board, the Ministry of Education and other agencies to mitigate fraud.