By Emeka Nze
Abuja
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released additional guidelines to the existing2015 Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of elections in the country.
In a statement culled from the Commission’s bulletin, INEC stated that “having approved the pilot of the Continuous Accreditation and Voting Procedure at elections, for the time being, the Commission has decided the supplement to the existing guidelines and regulations at elections.”
The Commission stressed that all procedures specified in the Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of the 2015 General Elections remain in effect with the following exceptions.
It also noted that voting “shall be by the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System.”
According to the statement, the accreditation process shall comprise authentication and verification of voters using the Smart Card Reader (SCR), checking of the register of voters, and inking of the cuticle of the specified finger.
It further stated that the ballot paper shall be issued in the prescribed manner by the Presiding Officer of a Polling Unit/Voting Point (Settlement) of the FCT, and the Assistant Presiding Officer (APO) in the case of a Voting Point (VP).
It said: “Accreditation and Voting shall commence at 8.00 am and close at 2.00 p.m. provided that any voters already in the queue shall be granted access to Accreditation and Voting in the prescribed manner.
“The Polling Unit layout shall require the Presiding Officer to sit next to the APO II. The Presiding Officer shall act as the Overseer.”
