IFA Tasks INEC on Leveraging Collaboration and Voter Register Audit
The Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to leverage collaboration and conduct an audit of its voter register for better service delivery.
IFA is a non-governmental, non-partisan, and non-profit organization led by a woman with a disability.
The Programme Manager of the Association, Mr. Moses Oluwaseyi, made the call while sharing the organization’s election observation report with the media, shortly after the Ondo State Election held on Saturday in Akure.
According to the Programme Manager, the collaboration aims to ensure that polling units are accessible to people with disabilities, starting from the entrance to the location where polling unit are set up. He noted that many polling units have gutters that lack ramps or other facilities to assist persons with various disabilities, such as those using crutches, wheel chair users, and amputees.
He added that INEC’s collaboration with government institutions like the Ministry of Works and Housing or the Ministry of Survey and Urban Planning, depending on the relevant nomenclature will help reduce significant inaccessibility deficit at polling unit. He emphasized that INEC does not have the authority to construct its own polling units but instead utilizes open spaces and public facilities like schools and marketplaces.
Mr. Oluwaseyi also called for voter register audits to address specific issues related to data accuracy and voter list cleanup, noting that low voter turnout could be attributed to deceased persons still being listed as eligible voters.
“Imagine a situation where you have 800 people on the voter register, but 600 of them are already deceased. Resources are being deployed to these deceased individuals, resources that could be better used for living voters,” he explained.
He also highlighted incidents where Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) no longer displayed the faces of the registered voters, which could negatively impact the election process. He encourage INEC to improve on quality of the PVC issued to citizens.
The Programme Manager stressed the need for continuous voter education and the provision of election assistive materials for persons with disabilities at polling units. These materials, based on INEC’s data, should be available to facilitate voting. While some polling units met this expectation, such as providing Braille ballot guides (BBG) and magnifying glasses, Form EC40H, Form EC 30E PWD, a few other locations failed to do so.
Nevertheless, Mr. Oluwaseyi praised INEC for meeting expectations in some polling units by making assistive materials available, such as the Form EC30E PWD pictorial poster, which helps direct deaf voters on Election Day, and Form EC4OH, which captures data on persons with disabilities in a disaggregated format.
“A significant number of these promises were fulfilled, as demonstrated by our field observations and reports from our roving observers. This reflects positively on the integrity of INEC and the National Elections,” he said.
However, he also noted that, there are areas for improvement to ensure sustainability and continued inclusiveness for persons with disabilities.
