Continuous voter's registration should be suspended, the electoral umpire seeks.
The polling unit areas shall be redesigned to ensure substantial compliance with established protocols such as social distancing noted by Yakubu Mahmood, the INEC Chairman.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it would work towards the full introduction of electronic voting in major elections, starting from 2021.
The Cable reports that the INEC said this in its new policy on conducting elections released amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
OSSNews gathered that there have been calls for electronic voting over the years but some concerns, including the fear of cyber crime, hampered the process.
An electoral act amendment bill seeking to make e-voting compulsory in elections, however, passed second reading at the Senate in November.
The electoral umpire said in the new policy that it would not only pilot the use of e-voting machines at the earliest possible time after the forth coming Edo and Ondo governorship elections but would also“work towards the full introduction of electronic voting in major elections startingfrom 2021.”
The commission added that it would regularly clean up the biometric register of voters while continuous voter registration issuspended“for the time being to prevent the health risks associated with it in the context of COVID-19.”
Speaking on the elections in Edo and Ondo, INEC also said face masks would be made compulsory for voters, electoral officials and everyone else at all election locations.
It said the polling unit areas shall be redesigned to ensure substantial compliance with established protocols such as social distancing.
The INEC said:“In order to accommodate additional activities in setting up the PU due to COVID-19, polls shall now commence at 8.30 am and close at 2.30 pm.
Personal protective equipment and other safety materials shall be provided for polling staff."
It said infrared thermometers would be used at the various collation centres, alcohol-based hand sanitisers at the polling units for election officials while methylated spirit and cotton wool would be provided for the disinfection of the smart card readers after the fingerprint of each voter is read.
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