The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed its determination to deepen the use of technology in the electoral process amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission made the disclosure in its document made available to newsmen, “Policy on Conducting Elections in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The document, signed by the commission’s Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, revealed that electronic voting was on the table as a safety measure to safeguard lives of its staff, candidates and the electorate.
It was however silent on whether it would experiment with e-voting in the outstanding bye-elections.
But it hinted of “Pilot changes to the electoral process in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic in a bye-election prior to the Edo and Ondo states governorship elections
in order to learn lessons where necessary.”
The initiative to inject e-collation of results in the electoral process suffered setback prior to the 2019 general elections as President Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress who ultimately won the presidential election, declined assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The electoral body said its new initiative was a response “to the growing demand for deepening the use of technology in the electoral processes, including the introduction of electronic voting.”
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