The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has experimented for the first time with the use of Bimodial Voter Accreditation System BVAS, in Saturday’s Isoko South state constituency bye-election.
Ait.live gathered that while young voters in the area expressed satisfaction with the new system of accreditation and voting, only few aged voters who may not have updated their voting cards experienced some challenges.
Also Read: INEC commences use of Bimodial Voter Accreditation System in Isoko
Meanwhile, one person was reportedly shot dead as gunmen hijacked the ballot in unit 5, Ward 10 during the election.
Elections in Oleh ward two, unit Nine was relatively peaceful.
INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of South-South region May Agbamuche-Mbu while monitoring the progress acknowledged the minor challenges of the BVAS but said the exercise will be perfected in the upcoming Anambra Governorship Elections.
Candidates of the APC and SDP while commending the outcome of the use of the Enhanced Smart Card Reader, also spotted areas where INEC could improve upon.
Despite the challenges, majority of the voters in the election want INEC to adopt the use of Bimodial Voter Accreditation System in the 2023 general election.
The Bimodial Voter Accreditation System or B-VAS is an integrated device that is multifunctional in nature, which serves as Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) during voter registration, voter accreditation on Election Day and also functions as INEC Results Viewing Device (IReV Device) to be used for election results upload on Election Day.
(Editor-Abaje Usekwe)
