THE Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has approved the electronic transmission of election results in its newly revised regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections.
The Commission announced the release of its Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022, via its verified Twitter page on Friday.
The 37-page document contains 106 guidelines and regulations for elections, including health measures to be implemented during voting.
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Article 38 of the document addresses the electronic transmission of results and upload of results to the INEC results viewing portal.
It states, “On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:
“(i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.
“(ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.
“(iii) Take the BVAS ( Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) and the original copy of each of the forms in tamper-evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.”
Article 30 of the guideline borders on the prohibition of the use of telephone and other electronic devices in the voting arena.
It states, “Telephones and other electronic devices capable of taking pictures are not allowed in voting cubicles.
“Voters may come to the Polling Unit with telephones and other electronic devices provided that they do not take them to the voting cubicles or take pictures of other voters while they are voting.”
This is coming ahead of Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections, as well as the 2023 general elections.
