Anambra: INEC to display register of new voters tomorrow

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, said it would display register of new voters for Anambra State election and also ensure they are not disenfranchised.

The commission also assured voters who applied to transfer from polling units within and outside the state, and those who sought replacement of damaged or lost PVCs, that their cards would be printed and made available for collection before the election on November 6.

Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this at the third quarterly meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja, yesterday. He announced  the commission would be carrying out a pilot test of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a new technology that combines the functions of Smart Card Reader (SCR) and Z-Pad, during the Anambra governorship poll.

“In the next two days, the commission will compile the register of new voters and publish same throughout the state for claims and objections. Thereafter, we will clean up the data, print the PVCs for collection by registrants and compile the actual register of voters to be used in each of the 5,720 polling units in the state. I want to assure every newly registered voter in Anambra State, including those who applied to transfer from within and outside the state, or for the replacement of damaged or lost PVCs that their cards will be printed and made available to them for collection before the election.”

He said the commission had devolved its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) to the 326 registration areas or wards in addition to the 21 local government offices and state office of the commission.

“The physical exercise was suspended two days ago, that is 60 days to the election as required by law. However, the online pre-registration option will continue to be available,but no appointment for completion of registration can be scheduled until after the election,” he said.

On technology deployment for the Anambra poll, the INEC boss said: “The functionality of the Z-pad has now been integrated into the IVED currently used for voter registration. On election day, the same device will become the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to be used, first, for fingerprint authentication during accreditation, and where it fails for facial authentication.

“We believe this will eliminate the possibility of voting by identity theft using another person’s PVC. Where the voter fails both the fingerprint and facial authentication, he/she will not be allowed to vote. In other words, no electronic authentication, no voting. We are convinced that the new machine is robust enough to further guarantee the credibility of voter authentication and transparent management of results during elections.”