The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has distributed non-sensitive materials for the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, who disclosed this, said the commission would use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) for the transmission of the election results.
Addressing the media on the preparations for the election, Babalola said 2,053,061 persons including 1,034,006 male, 1,019,055 female and 726,944 youth would determine the fate of 17 governorship candidates on November 16.
According to her, a large percentage of the non-sensitive election materials required for the election have been received and deployed to the 18 Local Government Offices, where they are batched at Resident Area Center and Polling unit levels.
She said the electoral umpire was working closely with the relevant security agencies and stakeholders to ensure safe storage and timely distribution of these materials on the eve of the election.
Giving the breakdown of the INEC concluded the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, Babalola said there was a significant increase in registered voters across the state.
She said after the conclusion of the CVR exercise, 58,708 new voters were registered, while 3,132 voters transferred their registration into the state. She, however, said 123 voters transferred their registration out of the state.
On how to guarantee hitch-free elections, Babalola said, “The deployment of BVAS is a key innovation aimed at enhancing the credibility of the electoral process. May I state categorically that BVAS shall be deployed 3,933 polling units in the state for voter accreditation, ensuring that only registered voters with valid PVCs are allowed to vote?
“This system will also transmit polling unit results directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), enabling greater transparency and real-time access to election results by the public.”
Babalola said INEC in the state has taken custody of sufficient numbers of BVAS for the election, saying the commission is confident in its reliability for the governorship election.
She said the recruitment of ad-hoc staff for the election has been closed and the commission was at the stage of harvesting those who applied as ad-hoc election officials to invite the qualified ones for training.
She said: “Our focus during recruitment has been on competence, neutrality, and professionalism. The NYSC, who are going to form the major crop of poll officials to be used in the election, have been subjected to 13 weeks of root training before the major Electoral Institute Training of Election Officials.
“In the same vein, while a series of capacity-building workshops have been conducted for our staff, lots of capacity enhancement training and workshops are still ongoing. This is aimed at aiding the staff of the Commission in the state to discharge their duties professionally.”
The INEC Commissioner said it is fully committed to conducting a credible, transparent, and inclusive election in the state and called on the people to come out en masse on Election Day, exercise their franchise peacefully, and contribute to the democratic process.
She encouraged all political parties, candidates, and their supporters to respect the rules of engagement and promote a peaceful atmosphere before, during, and after the election.