Explainer: What you need to know about INEC’s continuous voter registration

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, last week announced the launch of an online portal for Nigerians that have attained the voting age to pre-register as well as sort out issues relating to their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

According to him, the new platform, aimed at decongesting INEC’s registration centres, is a two-step registration process for prospective registrants to preregister by providing their basic biodata which will be completed with a physical registration at a designated registration centre.

“This is one of the commission’s innovations to enhance voter experience by making the registration exercise faster, easier, and less crowded than before. Given the lingering COVID-19 situation, the new registration solution will help decongest registration centres, reduce delays, and allow prospective registrants to schedule appointments and monitor their applications from the comfort of their homes,” he said.

The flexibility of the platform saw the acceptance of prospective voters as 42,211 online applications were received nationwide within the first 24 hours of the resumption of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, disclosed in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, July 29, 2021 that 59,331 accounts were created by intended registrants on the CVR online preregistration portal out of which 27,759 individuals applied for new voter pre-registration services.

A check on the online portal for the CVR offers the following service;

New voter’s registration

The main thrust of the portal is to allow easy voter’s registration among the teeming youth in the country. Thus, it allows new applicants to input their biodata information on the account and an on-the-spot passport photograph to allow them to secure their voter’s card. However, this is subject to the completion of the physical registration exercise.

Information update

If you have registered and want to update or correct the information on your Voter’s Card, click the button below to begin the process.

Collect PVC

Also, those who have registered previously but have not gotten their PVC can use the platform to know where to pick their PVC.

Lost or damaged PVC

For those who have misplaced their PVC or it got damaged, they can request for a replacement by reissuing a new one on the platform.

Transfers

This is a service for those who have registered and want to change their voting location to another polling unit.

Review

This allows those who have registered but have not yet reviewed the information they provided or not uploaded their photo on the platform.

Open account with email

Before getting access to the portal, users must first open an account on the platform with provision of a username and password. However, the platform allows easy opening of accounts by allowing users to use their email to do that thus saving users from the headache of remembering their password whenever they wish to login.

Schedule Appointment

With physical registration of CVR starting on July 19 at INEC state and local government offices nationwide, the platform allows applicants to select a day of choice to visit the registration centre they would like to complete their registration.

Correct voter’s information

Registered voters who wish to correct issues with their data, such as misspelt names, dates of birth. It also allows registered voters who have had any problem during the accreditation for past elections, with either their Permanent Voters’ Cards or fingerprints not being read by the Smart Card Reader (SCR).