2019 presidential poll result may take five days to announce –Investigation

The presidential election, which is scheduled to hold on February 16, 2019, may take five days to collate and announce its result, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

Multiple sources within the Independent National Electoral Commission told The PUNCH correspondent that they envisaged three to four days because of the large number of candidates, which now stands at 73, as well as the number of registered voters, which is about 84 million.

Checks by Saturday PUNCH showed that only two parties — the Peoples Democratic Party and the Alliance for Democracy — participated in the 1999 presidential election, which held on February 27 but its outcome was announced on March 1, two days after.

In 2003, when 20 political parties contested, the presidential election held on April 19, while the result was announced on April 22, three days after.

The PUNCH, December 8, 2018

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