The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will conduct mock accreditation of voters for the Ondo State governorship election on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement, yesterday, said that the mock exercise would be held at the designated polling units from 8.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
He said that the commission had designated 12 polling units across six local councils, covering the three senatorial districts of the state, as centres for the mock accreditation.
Olumekun noted that a graphic detail containing the names and locations of the centres had been uploaded to the commission’s website and social media platforms for public information.
The INEC urged registered voters to come out with their PVCs for the exercise. It added that only registered voters for the designated polling units are invited to participate in the exercise, stressing that no voter from another polling unit can be accredited by the BVAS.
MEANWHILE, a Civic Tech organisation, Civic Hive, yesterday, expressed dismay over INEC’s management of the recently concluded off-cycle governorship election in Edo State.
It, however, chided INEC for allowing irregularities to shape the conduct of the election and called for review and punishment for offenders. Team Lead, Civic Hive, Joseph Amenaghawon, said the low turnout of voters questions INEC’s voter mobilisation strategies and calls for new approaches to reducing voter apathy during elections.
Amenaghawon, while calling on INEC to immediately investigate the irregularities in the election results and activities of Presiding Officers in Etsako East, Oredo and across other councils whose activities undermine the trust in election process and credibility of election results, also recommended that INEC and the National Assembly should start looking at new opportunities and lessons from other democracies on innovations and new avenues on how registered voters can vote seamlessly without undermining the integrity and transparency of the electoral system.
He also called on INEC to explore innovative ways to collate and announce election results without needless bureaucracies and gaps that allow for the manipulation of results.