By Lawal A. Dogara, Kaduna
The Kaduna State Independent National Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) has concluded arrangements to conduct the state’s forthcoming local government elections through electronic voting.
At a press briefing where the machine was demonstrated, Chairman of the commission, Dr. Saratu Binta Dikko assured of the commission’s readiness to conduct elections.
She said the electronic voting machine needed for the exercise are ready while the commission staff have been trained on how to use them.
Dr. Dikko revealed that, the commission requires about 6000 of the electronic voting machines to conduct the exercise.
According to her, “We have 5,101 polling units but some are very large that we have to split them into two polling units. That explains why we need 6000 machines for the polls”, she said.
She said the advantages of using the electronic voting machine are that, it will ensure free, fair and credible election and minimize instances of rigging.
On the day the election would hold, the Chairman said, they will not announce until they are sure the commission can meet the date.
Speaking on the easy operation of the machine, she said, “if the rural people are able to recognize the logo of parties on ballot papers, they would be able to recognize same on the machine and use. The machine is a lot easier than mobile phones that they use.”
