INEC starts registration of new voters in June

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will recommence the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise on June 28, 2021.

The commission's chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced the new date at a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, April 1.

The nationwide exercise will be carried out for over a year until September 2022, just months before the 2023 general elections.

Yakubu encouraged Nigerians that have turned 18 years old as of June 28 to turn out for the exercise and register to vote.

Other categories of Nigerians to benefit from the exercise include registered voters who wish to change their voting locations due to relocation, and those who have damaged or lost their permanent voter card (PVC).

Registered voters who have experienced previous accreditation issues, or want to correct their information, such as misspellings or dates of birth, are also encouraged to take advantage of the CVR.

The exercise will be temporarily paused in Anambra State in August ahead of its off-cycle November 6 governorship election.

Yakubu promised that INEC will ensure a safe and stress-free experience for registrants, especially with aid from improved technology.

He noted that the commission will migrate from the old Direct Data Capture Machine (DDCM), used for the past 10 years, to the new INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED), which is based on an android tablet.

Nigeria currently has just over 84 million registered voters, but has been struggling with a voter apathy problem.

Only 34.75% of voters participated in the 2019 presidential election, and voter turnout as low as 3% has been recorded in legislative bye-elections conducted over the past few months.

Attempts to pass an Electoral Amendment Bill to improve the dire situation has made little progress under the current government.