The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has approved the transmission of election results in its new revised Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022.
The commission announced the release of the new regulations and guidelines on Friday.
The issue concerning the electronic transmission of results is contained in article 38 of the guidelines.
It stated that, “On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:
“(i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.
“(ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.
“(iii) Take the BVAS ( Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) and the original copy of each of the forms in a tamper evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.”
The new guidelines however barred the use of telephones, cameras and other photographic materials from voting cubicles.
“Telephones and other electronic devices capable of taking pictures are not allowed in voting cubicles.
“Voters may come to the Polling Unit with telephones and other electronic devices provided that they do not take them to the voting cubicles or take pictures of other voters while they are voting,” the commission stated in article 30 of the guidelines.
