Bill on Electoral Amendment Act bans electronic transfer of poll results

A new Electoral Act Amendment Bill set to be presented on the floor of the Senate has advocated for a total ban of electronic transmission of votes in future elections in the country.

The 121-page document which is to be introduced at the Senate on Tuesday, is to be laid before the upper legislative chamber at plenary by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Kabir Gaya.

The proposed Bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act No 6, 2010 and enact the Electoral Act 2021, to regulate the conduct of Federal, State and Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory elections, and for related matters.”

The new draft is said to be at variance with what was earlier agreed to by the committees of the two chambers of the legislature and might result in a showdown amongst the lawmakers, when the draft is tabled for debate.

The Bill which has 153 sections, is divided into eight parts including Establishment and functions of INEC, Staff of the Commission, national register of voters and voters’ education, and procedure at election.

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The draft Bill also allows for electronic voting by secret ballot but ruled out electronic transmission of the votes cast at the poling units.

A Senator and member of the Senate Committee on INEC, who spoke to ThisDay on the condition of anonymity, said at no time was the new provision discussed at the committee level, talk less of inserting it in the draft bill.

“This is not funny at all. I now know why the presentation of the report had been delayed this long after we finished our work at the committee level. They have been playing hide and seek on the matter.

“For all I know and other committee members can bear me witness, the issue of ban on electronic transfer of votes was not part of the report we wrote.

“So, that means the committee Chairman is culpable and owes the committee members an explanation over the strange insertion”, he said.

By Isaac Dachen

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