Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ebonyi State, Professor Godswill Obioma, has said that any polling unit where voting is conducted during the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections without the accreditation of the voters with the smartcard reader will record zero results.
Obioma stated this during a consultative meeting with the stakeholders at the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital ahead of the March 9 governorship and state Assembly polls.
The REC said: “In the event that the smartcard reader reads only the name and the thumbprint could not bring up the face, the next is stage is that that person’s name will be checked in the register.
“If the person’s name is in the register, the name will be ticked and the person will be given a ballot paper to go and vote because the smartcard has accredited that person.
“There is no manual voting. There is nothing like manual voting. In any polling unit where people did not seek accreditation before they go and vote, the presiding officer has been instructed to return zero results. There will be no result at all.
“If the smartcard reader starts malfunctioning, they should be patient and wait for its replacement or adjustment. It is not wise for people to rush and do manual voting. Be patient. If they do manual voting, it will render all the votes useless and as such they will return a result with zero scores,” he said.