Reps consider bill to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory

A bill for the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 to make transmission of election results mandatory has passed the second reading at the house of representatives.

The bill was sponsored by Francis Waive, a lawmaker representing Ughelli north/Ughelli south/Udu federal constituency of Delta state.

The bill is seeking to amend section 60 (5) of the Electoral Act to include mandatory electronic transmission of results.

Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 says the “presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot in a manner as prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”.

“In the 2022 Act, the issue of electronic transmission of results was not definite. I think we should not make laws that would be vague,” Waive said.

In January 2023, a federal high court in Abuja ruled that INEC is free to specify or pick the method of transmitting election results.

The electronic transmission of results was one of the contentious issues of the February 25 presidential election.

Many officials of the electoral body were unable to transmit results from polling units, prompting the rejection of the outcome by opposition parties.

The bill is also seeking to allow INEC to make a new voters’ register every 10 years to remove the record of dead persons.

“Without prejudice to the provision of this section and subject to subsection (2), every 10 years the commission shall carry out a re-registration exercise of all eligible voters in preparation for the next general elections,” the proposed clause reads.

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, said the voters’ register for the last election was bloated.

Abbas said the bill would remove dead persons from the voters’ register if passed into law.

ELECTIONS SHOULD HOLD SAME DAY

The bill also seeks to amend section 28 of the principal act to allow all elections in the country to hold on the same day.

The lawmaker said the bill, if passed, will help to reduce the cost of conducting separate elections in the country.

The proposed clause reads: “Subject to paragraph (a) of this section, and without prejudice to other sections of this act, election into the office of the President, National Assembly, State Governors and State House of Assembly shall be conducted on the same day.”