2023 Election: INEC Targets 200,000 Electronic Voting Machines
- The Independent National Electoral Commission is planning to purchase electronic voting machines
- According to the electoral umpire, the voting machines will cater for the county's 176,846 Polling Units
- Going further, the commission said the use of the machines will also depend on the amendment of the voting acts
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Nigerians might soon witness another election model. This follows the Independent National Electoral Commission's plan to buy about 200,000 electronic voting machines.
The machines are expected to cater for the 176,846 Polling Units in the country, Punch Newspaper reports.
Source: Original
This was disclosed by INEC national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye.
According to him, INEC’s in-house engineers are evaluating proposals submitted by 49 companies, both local and foreign, for the supply of the machines.
He said:
“As of today, we have 176,846 Polling Units in the country, and each polling unit must be serviced by at least one electronic voting machine. The commission must also acquire redundancies or backups.
“The decision on the number to acquire will be taken by the commission the moment a decision on the machines is taken and the constitutive legal framework amended to accommodate additional use of technology in the electoral process. But we are looking at and proposing around 200,000 machines."
In another report, Legit.ng had reported that ahead of the 2023 general elections, INEC has launched an online portal for Nigerians to register as voters.
A brief statement on the electoral body's official Facebook page indicates that the portal, http://www.cvr.inecnigeria.org/, will go live on Monday, June 28, when the online registration is scheduled to commence.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman told journalists in Abuja on Thursday, June 24, that the portal was launched for prospective registrants to commence the process online and book an appointment to visit INEC office to conclude it.
Online registration free of charge
The online portal, according to INEC, is a public service and therefore free of charge. All that is needed is a mobile device that can connect to the internet.
Professor Mahmood added that INEC has acquired all the equipment for the voter registration and has also planned for the deployment of 5,346 staff to the registration centres.
Among the equipment he mentioned is a new registration machine called the INEC voter enrolment device (IVED) which will replace the laptop-based old direct data capture machine (DDCM).
INEC fixes dates for Ekiti, Osun gubernatorial elections
Meanwhile, INEC has announced dates for the conduct of the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
According to the electoral body, the election in Ekiti will hold on June 18, 2022, while that of Osun will hold on July 16, 2022.
INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu, made this known in Abuja on Wednesday, June 16.
Source: Legit.ng
