The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) says registration procedures improved during Phase Two of the Biometric Voter's Registration process that just ended in the country.
A press release from the ECC, says malfunctioning of equipment still persisted during Phase Two of the Biometric Voter Registration process executed by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
The Committee's preliminary update released here on Tuesday, May 16, covers findings from 184 centers in over five days of deployment from April 21-May 9, 2023.
The ECC adds that the update also contains critical incidents observed and recommendations to improve the process.
It observes that registration centers generally opened on schedule during Phase Two of the BVR process and that necessary BVR kits were available.
However, the release reveals that despite this, several of the centers observed continued to experience malfunctioning of equipment.
"ECC observers however, noted an improvement in the way NEC registration staff requested verification of eligibility prior to enrolling applicants during phase two. While the ECC recommended an increase in security presence at registration centers to cover phase two of the BVR, a relatively low security deployment was again observed, even though slightly higher than phase one," it continues.
According to the Committee, political party representatives were present to observe the procedure in 131 of the 180 centers that the ECC observed, something it said is also an improvement over Phase One.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
At the same time, the Elections Coordinating Committee points that voter trucking was observed during Phase Two, saying the preliminary findings focus on key issues observed over the period of April 21 to May 9, 2023.
It explains that observers covered the entire process of registration from set-up to closing of centers, noting that during this period, several observations were made.
"ECC observed that 160 of the 185 centers opened on schedule between 8:00 am and 8:30 am, which is 86% of all the centers, and that only 11% of these centers opened after 8:30 a.m. as a result of the late arrival of staff, lack of ink for the printer, shortage of cards or a lack of electricity to power the equipment."
It says during set-up, BVR centers were seen to have a complete BVR kit available, adding that these centers were generally accessible, and applicants did not have to go upstairs to access the center.
ECC further discloses that 131 of 183 centers were accessible to everyone, including people with special needs or disabilities.
It recommends use of canopies or tents on Election Day to improve upon this strategy to facilitate easy accessibility for people with special needs.
Commenting on BVR equipment functionality, the ECC reports that in 55 of 182 centers, it observed the equipment malfunctioned but was swiftly fixed, adding that the malfunctioning equipment in 14 centers resulted in significant delays.
