As Kaduna State announces that it would employ the use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), to conduct Local Government elections in the State, it becomes increasingly clear that many Nigerians do not know the difference between electronic accreditation and electronic voting, as there is a general mistake that Nigeria has been using electronic voting.
According to the Governor of the State, Nasir El-Rufai, in the flag-off ceremony of the All Progressive Congress (APC) campaign for the Local Government polls, the State would be the first to make use of EVM since the National Assembly approved its usage in the amendment of the Electoral Act.
“By introducing electronic voting machines, this Government is affirming its democratic credentials, a firm belief that people’s vote must count.
“We have made the most significant investment ever to promote electoral integrity and transparency in Nigeria.
“Our Local Government Elections will be the first ever in Nigeria conducted by electronic voting.”
The Governor also lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for its introduction of Card Reader in the 2015 General Elections which helped in promoting electoral integrity.
What is electronic voting?
Electronic voting is the use of an Electronic machine to do the job of casting and balloting of votes instead of the conventional paper ballot.
An EVM provides a voter with buttons which represent each political party at the poll. These buttons are connected to an electronic ballot box.
Once a voter presses the button of his or her preferred candidate, the machine processes his answer and deposits it in the electronic balloting box.
A machine can only accept five votes in a minute, and after each vote, the machine locks itself and can only be unlocked using a new ballot number.
Electronic voting is used in United States of America, Brazil, Canada, and India among other places.
Nigeria, yet to adopt
Nigeria has not yet adopted the electronic voting, although it has received the approval of the National Assembly.
In April INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said the Country would not introduce the system to the upcoming 2019 General Elections.
According to Yakubu, the Commission would only deploy technology for purposes of collating and transmitting the polls result.
“Let me say categorically that the commission will not be deploying technology for electronic voting in the 2019 elections, but we will deploy the technology for collation and transmission of election result from polling units to INEC result collation base.
“We are to deploy technology within our various legal frameworks within the regions. Election is not just about technology, it is about the confidence of the people in the electoral process.”
What is obtained in Nigeria is electronic accreditation of voters with the use of Permanent Voters Card (PVC), after which they proceed to cast votes into ballot boxes by thumb-printing on the conventional ballot papers.
In electronic voting, there is no use of ballot papers or physical ballot boxes, all that is needed is the identification (PVC) and one can proceed to cast his/her votes.
