INEC pledges support to observer groups
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Watching The Vote (WTV) team of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) and every other election observer groups of its maximum support ahead of the November 18, governorship election in Anambra State.
The Head of Voter Education of the commission in the state; Bar. Owette Emmanuel, made the disclosure during a training organised by the group for its WTV team and trainers in preparation to observe the exercise.
He said all political parties contesting the election had been publicly presented with the document containing all the registered voters in the state, adding that the voters would be spread across 4,608 polling units and 731 voting points.
“Voting points are created if the total number of registered voters in a polling unit is above 750 registered voters to avoid a crowded polling unit and delay in voting, he said.
While reiterating the commission’s readiness for the election, the voter education boss said the nonsensitive materials had been deployed to all the 21 local government areas.
According to Emmanuel, the electoral umpire had simplified the election process by creating Registration Area Centres (RAC) in various wards which were not far from polling units, which he said, would eliminate the late arrival of election personnel and materials.
“INEC is putting finishing touches on its preparation for the election with several voter education programmes across communities using various mediums of communication like radio jingles.
“Enough sensitisation has been done on how to vote right. If voters vote rightly, rejected votes will not be much.
“Similarly, Persons With Disability (PWD) will be given special consideration to prevent them from going through the rigours of queuing for accreditation and voting,” he said.
YIAGA’s WTV has recruited 500 polling unit observers who will be trained to observe the November 18 election while also deploying 27 mobile observers across all the 21 local government areas to supervise stationary polling units to observe and report critical incidents.
Also, the WTV Anambra Data Centre will be opened on November 13, at Finotel Classique Hotel, Agwu-Awka, where journalists, election stakeholders and the general public can all have access to information received from observers on the field.