by Friday Obande
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that accreditation and simultaneous voting would be adopted for the 2019 elections.
the revelation was made by Mr. Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner, and head, Information and Voter Education Unit.
he made the revelation while speaking at a workshop organized for media practitioners on the 2019 election by the American Embassy in Abuja.
Okoye, who was one of the resource persons at the workshop said only voters with verified Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be allowed to vote.
“For the 2019 general elections, the voting procedure shall be in accordance with the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System (CAVS) and only voters with PVCs verified by the Smart Card Reader (SCR) shall be allowed to vote.
“The accreditation process shall comprise verification by SCR, checking of the register of voters, and inking of the cuticle of the specified finger,’’ he said.
Okoye said INEC would not use incident forms for individuals whose fingerprints were not authenticated in the 2019 poll.
“Where the voter’s fingerprint is not authenticated after four attempts using SCR, the fingerprint shall be recaptured in the prescribed manner and continue with the accreditation and voting process,’’ he said.
Okoye said INEC had put in place necessary mechanism to ensure that the election was free, fair and credible.
“The presiding officer shall be responsible for regulating the admission of voters to the polling unit and shall exclude all other persons except candidates and their polling agents, election officials and security personnel.
“Others are accredited observers and any other who in his opinion has a lawful reason to be admitted,’ he said.
