The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has amended the guidelines and regulations for the 2019 general elections in the country with emphasis on continuous accreditation during voting exercise.
In a new guidelines released by the Commission on Tuesday, INEC said, among others, that Voting shall be by the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System.
The Commission said, in the supplementary guidelines and regulations that having approved the pilot of the Continuous Accreditation and Voting Procedure at elections, for the time being, it has decided that the following shall constitute a supplement to the existing guidelines and regulations at elections.
The Commission stressed that: “all procedures specified in the Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of the 2015 General Elections remain in effect with the following exceptions:
- a) Voting shall be by the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System;
- b) The accreditation process shall comprise authentication and verification of voters using the Smart Card Reader (SCR), checking of the Register of Voters, and inking of the cuticle of the specified finger;
- c) The ballot paper shall be issued in the prescribed manner by the Presiding Officer of a Polling Unit/Voting Point (Settlement) of the FCT, and the Assistant Presiding Officer, APO (VP), in the case of a Voting Point (VP).
- d) Accreditation and Voting shall commence at 8.00 am and close at 2.00 p.m. provided that any voters already in the queue shall be granted access to Accreditation and Voting in the prescribed manner.
- e) The Polling Unit layout shall require the Presiding Officer to sit next to the APO II;
- f) The Presiding Officer shall act as the Overseer. [myad]
