Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) involved in election observation and civic advocacy have rejected the Senate’s inclusion of a caveat in the amended Electoral Act, allowing Form EC8A to serve as the primary means of collation in the event of internet failure.
The CSOs made their position known in a joint statement issued on Wednesday.
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The organisations are Yiaga Africa, Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), The Kukah Center, International Press Centre (IPC), ElectHER, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, and TAF Africa.
They argued that the clause creates loopholes that could undermine electoral integrity and weaken safeguards introduced in the 2022 Electoral Act.
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“Electronic transmission with embedded loopholes undermines electoral integrity. The conditions in the clause signals electoral setback and it weakens the safeguards in the 2022 Electoral Act.”
On Tuesday, the Senate rescinded its earlier decision on the Electoral Act amendment in which it rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the INEC‘s Result Viewing Portal (IREV) after vote counting.
The lawmakers consequently re-amended the Electoral Act to accommodate the electronic transmission of results. However, the provision comes with a caveat that, in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A will serve as the primary means of result collation.
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Despite the change, the amendment does not make electronic transmission mandatory. Instead, it allows results to be transmitted electronically while providing an alternative in cases of network failure.
Form EC8A is the primary document on which the presiding officer records the results immediately after votes are counted at a polling unit. In election petitions, courts often rely heavily on EC8A forms because they represent the first official record of votes at the source.
The Senate has constituted a nine-member harmonisation committee to reconcile differences between its version of the bill and the one earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
Call to adopt House version
The CSOs urged the harmonisation committee to adopt the House of Representatives’ version of the amendment, which mandates electronic transmission of results irrespective of internet challenges.
“The position of House of Representatives on electoral transmission should be adopted
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On February 10th, the Senate at its emergency plenary session rescinded its earlier decision on electronic transmission and adopted a provision to permit electronic transmission of polling units results under Clause 60(3) in the Electoral Bill. The revised clause now mandates electronic transmission of results from polling units “as long as it does not fail,” while designating Form EC8A as the primary source of election results.”
While welcoming the Senate’s decision to reverse its earlier rejection of electronic transmission, the CSOs argued that the clause fails to clearly define what constitutes internet failure or the verification mechanisms that should apply in such circumstances.
They also expressed concern that the amendment does not specify how Form EC8A would become the primary source of results in cases of transmission failure.
The CSOs said the absence of clear safeguards creates a loophole that could undermine the very objective of electronic transmission.
The groups called on Nigerians, civil society organisations, the media, technology experts, political parties and citizens to remain vigilant as the bill proceeds to the conference committee stage.
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