INEC has decentralized voter registration, in Anambra

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced yesterday that Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will now be conducted in Anambra State’s wards.

The Commission stated that it is working in tandem with the governorship election on November 6th.

Festus Okoye, INEC’s Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, said that preparations are proceeding according to the election’s detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities.

He claimed that eight of the 14 activities had already been completed successfully, including party primaries, candidate nominations, and the start of political party campaigns.

The Commission has approved the devolution of the CVR to the state’s 326 Wards to ensure that new voters and those who wish to transfer their registration to Anambra State or from one part of the state to another have the opportunity to do so and complete the process before the election.

“The exercise will begin on Monday, August 30th, 2021, and end on Sunday, September 5th, 2021,” Okoye said. This is in addition to the 21 existing Local Government Area offices and the State Head Office, where physical registration is currently occurring. The total number of registration centers in the state now stands at 348.”

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“Voter registration shall cease not later than 60 days before an election, in accordance with Section 9(5) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended),” he added. This means that by September 6, 2021, the exercise in Anambra State will be over. This will allow the Commission to clean up the data, compile the register, distribute copies to political parties, print the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) for registered voters to collect, and prepare two copies of the register for each of the 5,720 polling units ahead of the election.”

As a result, in addition to our Local Government and State offices, those who wish to register in person or physically can now do so from August 30 to September 5, 2021, at the Registration Area (Ward) level throughout the State. If they want to vote in the upcoming Governorship election, those who completed the online pre-registration must also complete the physical registration within those dates. From September 6, 2021, until after the governorship election, the Commission will suspend physical voter registration in Anambra State.

The Commission has identified 580 pre-registrants from online voter registration who have scheduled appointments to complete their registration after September 5, 2021. We’ve emailed each of them and rescheduled their appointments within the devolved exercise’s timeframe. If the date we proposed is not convenient for them, we have also given them the option of choosing another date within that time frame. They may, however, reschedule for a later date if they do not wish to vote in the Governorship election on November 6th.

We are deploying 652 trained staff, two for each of the 326 wards, as part of the Commission’s commitment to continue to provide a pleasant experience for Nigerians during the CVR exercise. Furthermore, sufficient voter registration machines and technical support will be available for the duration of the exercise, which will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily, including weekends. Our Anambra State office has begun stakeholder engagements and extensive publicity for the exercise.