INEC to Adopt Electronic Voting for 2019 General Electitons

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may be deploying electronic voting during the 2019 general elections going by the words of Prof Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the commission.
The INEC chairman gave the hint during a meeting with executives of the forum of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs), who visited him at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The Nation reports that Prof Yakubu said the commission was working to replace the manual process with modern technology in the conduct of local elections.

He said: “We can no longer continue to conduct elections manually in Nigeria. We must introduce modern technology as being done in other countries. Very soon, the use of technology for the conduct of local elections in the country will be mandatory

“It will make the process transparent and very open as it should be. The use of smart card, otherwise known as Card Reader machine, has come to stay, though it requires a lot of resources. We see we can do it because it adds value and more credibility to the electoral process in the country. Some states have been using it in the conduct of their elections. We are seeing how we can make it to go round,” he added.

The INEC chairman also assured the SIECs of the commission’s collaboration during his tenure as part of efforts to deepen democracy.

The forum’s chairperson, Mrs Gloria Ukpong, who is also the chairperson of the Akwa Ibom State SIEC, said the forum could learn from the INEC chairman.

“We had great and beautiful memory under the former commission and we want the relationship to continue. We can learn many things from the commission under you and take them to our states.”