To ensure that fresh voters and those who wish to transfer their registration to Anambra State from any part of the country can do so ahead of the State’s Governorship Election scheduled for 6th November, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the devolution of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) to the State’s 326 Wards.
In a statement issued today and signed by National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Barrister Festus Okoye, the Commission said the exercise would begin on Monday 30th August and end on Sunday 5th September 2021. This is in addition to the existing 21 Local Government Area offices and the State head office where physical registration is currently taking place, bringing the total number of registration centres in the State to 348.
To give Nigerians a pleasant experience, the Commission will deploy 652 trained staff based on two personnel per each of the 326 Wards. Okoye said: “There will be enough voter registration machines, and adequate technical support for the duration of the exercise, which will hold between 9am and 3pm daily, including the weekend,”
The Statement noted that the CVR would be suspended in the State on 6th September 2021 in compliance with Section 9(5) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which states that voter registration shall stop not later than 60 days before an election. “This will enable the Commission to clean up the data, compile the register, make copies available to political parties, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for collection by registered voters and prepare two copies of the register for each of the 5720 polling units ahead of the election,” he said.
The National Commissioner averred that those who wish to register physically could do so at the Registration Area (Ward) level and the Commission’s local government and State offices throughout Anambra State from 30th August to 5th September 2021. For those pre-registered online, Okoye said they must also complete their registration physically within the given dates if they wish to vote in the 6th November governorship election. He affirmed that the Commission would suspend the physical registration of voters in the State from 6th September 2021 until after the governorship election.
He also stated: “From the online registration of voters, the Commission has identified 580 pre-registrants who booked for an appointment to complete their registration after 5th September 2021. We have contacted each of them by e-mail and rescheduled them within the dates earmarked for the devolved exercise. We have also given them the option to choose another date within that period if the date we proposed is not convenient. However, they are at liberty to reschedule for a later date if they do not wish to vote in the November 6th Governorship election.”