The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will from August 19th to 25th, 2013, conduct Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Anambra State, preparatory to the governorship election scheduled for November 16th, 2013.
Before the CVR, the Commission will conduct voter verification from 16th to 18th August, 2013. During this exercise, the Register of Voters for the state will be displayed at polling units statewide for voters to verify their registration status.
INEC on Thursday, July 18, 2013, met with national and Anambra State leaders of registered political parties to brief them on preparations towards the governorship election. The meeting provided an opportunity to give the stakeholders up-to-date information on the data of voters for Anambra State, the status and spread of the polling units, and the action plan for voter verification and CVR leading up to the governorship election.
Following the voter registration exercise conducted in 2011, INEC declared a figure of 2, 011, 746 registrants in Anambra State. The Commission has since subjected that data to Register Optimization Process, which involved data consolidation, the use of the Automatic Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS) software to eliminate multiple registrations and the application of business rules for printing of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs); ending up with a valid voter figure of 1, 711, 061 registrants. The impending CVR offers opportunity for persons who have turned 18 years since 2011, or who were 18-plus at the time but did not register, or who had less than two fingerprints captured during the 2011 registration exercise, to get themselves registered ahead of the Anambra governorship election.
There are 4, 608 polling units in the state, spread across the 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The Commission, at the stakeholder meeting on Thursday, identified 53 polling units in nine LGAs that are without data. It also disclosed the identity of four polling units that have been found to be located in the forest, assuring stakeholders that the status of these polling units is being verified and the Commission would make its decision on them known very soon.
The Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, urged the stakeholders to support INEC in mobilising Anambra residents for the voter verification exercise, the CVR and the November 16th governorship election. The voter verification will hold at the polling unit level, while the CVR will hold at the Registration Area centres (i.e. Ward level) – except for the 53 PUs without data, where registration will hold at the polling unit level. The Chairman also assured the stakeholders that with the Register Optimization Process conducted, Addendum Registers will not be used in the Anambra election.
Party leaders at the stakeholder meeting unanimously expressed their satisfaction with the level of preparation by INEC and promised to mobilise Anambra voters for peaceful and credible election.
Twenty-four registered political parties were represented at the stakeholder meeting with INEC.
