Technology deployment in election would increase public confidence in the process, says the National Chairman, Independent National Election Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, reports ITREALMS.
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| Prof. Mahmood Yakubu |
Yakubu in his remarks at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja Tuesday, said INEC is convinced that the introduction of technology in voter accreditation and result management is better than the best entirely manual process.
“It also increases public confidence in the process,” he declared, stressing that INEC will continue to deepen the use of technology in elections in the country.
He pointed out that the Commission piloted two important technological innovations in the Anambra State Governorship election, namely the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and dedicated portal to handle various aspect of the electoral process.
BVAS, he said, was deployed in Anambra for the first time in a major election after the successful pilot in the Isoko South I State Constituency in Delta State in September this year.
“The BVAS has replaced the Smart Card Reader for verification and authentication as part of our improved voter accreditation process,” he said, emphasizing that the new technology was designed in-house by INEC engineers and like every new technology, glitches were observed and important lessons learnt.
The Commission, Yakubu also said, has reviewed the performance of BVAS in Anambra State and there will be a tremendous improvement leading to optimal performance in future elections.
“The BVAS has come to stay. So too is the uploading of Polling Unit results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on Election Day,” INEC boss said.
On the dedicated portals, Prof. Yakubu explained were created by Commission to handle different aspect of the electoral process, citing an instance with the nomination of candidates by political parties, including the uploading of nomination forms, is now done online.
“So too is the accreditation of election observers and the media,” he said.
INEC boss in addition noted that for the first time in the history of the Commission, the accreditation of polling and collation agents nominated by political parties was done online.
This, he said, ensured that all such agents were provided with identification tags bearing not only their party logos, names and other personal details but personal photographs as well.
“In all, the Commission issued 63,745 identification tags to agents of the 18 political parties that sponsored candidates for the election,” he said, maintaining that this has sanitized the process and made the identification of ghost party agents easier.
“We will maintain the same arrangement for all forthcoming elections, including the 2023 General Election,” he asserted.
“It also increases public confidence in the process,” he declared, stressing that INEC will continue to deepen the use of technology in elections in the country.
He pointed out that the Commission piloted two important technological innovations in the Anambra State Governorship election, namely the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and dedicated portal to handle various aspect of the electoral process.
BVAS, he said, was deployed in Anambra for the first time in a major election after the successful pilot in the Isoko South I State Constituency in Delta State in September this year.
“The BVAS has replaced the Smart Card Reader for verification and authentication as part of our improved voter accreditation process,” he said, emphasizing that the new technology was designed in-house by INEC engineers and like every new technology, glitches were observed and important lessons learnt.
The Commission, Yakubu also said, has reviewed the performance of BVAS in Anambra State and there will be a tremendous improvement leading to optimal performance in future elections.
“The BVAS has come to stay. So too is the uploading of Polling Unit results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on Election Day,” INEC boss said.
On the dedicated portals, Prof. Yakubu explained were created by Commission to handle different aspect of the electoral process, citing an instance with the nomination of candidates by political parties, including the uploading of nomination forms, is now done online.
“So too is the accreditation of election observers and the media,” he said.
INEC boss in addition noted that for the first time in the history of the Commission, the accreditation of polling and collation agents nominated by political parties was done online.
This, he said, ensured that all such agents were provided with identification tags bearing not only their party logos, names and other personal details but personal photographs as well.
“In all, the Commission issued 63,745 identification tags to agents of the 18 political parties that sponsored candidates for the election,” he said, maintaining that this has sanitized the process and made the identification of ghost party agents easier.
“We will maintain the same arrangement for all forthcoming elections, including the 2023 General Election,” he asserted.
Nenye Dom/Editor
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