-Says saved results cannot be altered in its system
As qualified voters head to the polls on tomorrow, Tuesday, October 10, 2023, to cast their votes in the 2023 Presidential, Senatorial, and Representative elections, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has assured its commitment to ensure that the process is fair and transparent- says saved results cannot be altered in its new digitized system.
In a release press statement, NEC provides- “There are 5,890 polling places across the Country. At the close of voting, the votes cast at each polling place will be counted at the poll in the presence of parties/candidates’ agents and independent observers present, and the vote(s) cast for each candidate will be recorded on a five-page carbon copy document known as the Record of the Count. Parties’ agents will be asked to sign each Record of the Count for the Presidential, Senatorial, and the Representative elections.”
It continues, “Being a carbon copy document, the information written on the original sheet will appear on the bottom four sheets. In the presence of the parties/ candidates’ agents and observers, the original sheet of the count will be placed in a tamper-evident envelope.”
“The second sheet will be placed in the ballot box; the ballot box will be sealed; and the serial numbers of the seals will be made known to the parties/candidates’ agents and independent observers. The third sheet will be posted on the wall of the polling place for public viewing. The fourth sheet will be given to the representative of the candidate who obtained the highest votes, while the fifth sheet will be given to the representative of the candidate who obtained the second highest votes.”
After counting at the various polling places, BEC says the sealed ballot boxes and the tamper- evident envelopes will be sent under police protection to its magisterial office for tally/tabulation, scheduled to commence on October 11, 2023.
“Parties/candidates’ agents and independent observers are present during the tally. First, the original of the record of the count is taken from the tamper-evident envelope and copies are made for everyone present. There is a projector in the tally room to show the result being typed from the record of the count for all to see. When the results for each polling place have been tallied, the information is printed and parties/candidates’ agents are asked to sign the tallied results, and copies of the signed results are distributed.”
As provided by NEC, the saved results which cannot be altered, will then sent from the Magisterial Office to the Data Center at headquarters where the results sent from each county, in the case of the presidential election, are collated (totaled) and submitted to the Board of Commissioners for announcement.
“The results announced by the Board can be easily verified using the records of the count from the various polling places along with the signed tally sheets that will be distributed to parties/candidates’ agents and observers and posted for public viewing.”
At the same time, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has called on all registered voters to turn out on Election Day, October 10, 2023, to vote. “Your vote will count!” Additionally, NEC adds, “The current voter registration cards will not be bored because they are machine- readable cards (scan QR code), with security features. The cards contain personal information, including individual voting precincts, polling place and the page within the FRR where you can be found. The idea of puncturing the VR card has the propensity to destroy the card and making it unreadable.”
“Voters will be required to produce voter registration cards to vote, and must appear on the Final Registration Roll (FRR). An exception, however, is given to election security officers on duty at the center, polling staff and others as defined in the polling procedures.”
