A civil society organization, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) has deployed 200 field observers to observe the field testing of the card reader machines using a designated checklist, Mr Itodo Samson, head, research, policy and advocacy of the group said in a statement Friday.
“The 200 observers will be stationed in 200 polling units across the 225 polling units where the field test will be conducted by INEC. Also, 24 supervising observers have been deployed to the 12 states with the support of the Democratic Governance for Development Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP/DGD)” Samson said further.
The statement noted that “The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) resolve to enhance the integrity of the 2015 elections is exemplified with the introduction of smart card reader machines and the Permanent Voter Card. The card reader and Permanent Voter Card (PVC) form part of a new electronic voter authentication system introduced by the electoral commission to eliminate all forms of electoral malpractices like multiple voting.
“Boosting citizen’s confidence and trust in the use of the PVC and card reader machine is crucial to credible and peaceful elections. The PVC and card reader machines could undermine the elections and negatively impact voter turnout if its functionality and processing speed is not guaranteed before final deployment for the elections. To this end, INEC is conducting a field test of the Smart Card Readers (SRCs) to reaffirm their functionality ahead of the March 28th and April 11th elections. The exercise will hold on Saturday, March 7, 2015 in 12 wards across 12 states of the federation.
Samson said “At the end of the exercise, the observation mission will publish an independent report on the conduct of the field testing of the Smart Card Readers. The report will highlight the successes, issues and challenges experienced during the field testing exercise. YIAGA expects the independent report will improve INEC’s operation and logistics plan for the 2015 elections.
He urged the general public to follow live updates on the mock election on twitter via our official handle @YIAGA and hashtag #CardReaderTest
