Victor EzejaDUE to inability of many eligible voters to cast their votes on Saturday in the Anambra State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has bowed to pressure, thereby extending voting till Sunday.
INEC said any intending voter who is on the queue by 4 pm shall be allowed to vote in the Anambra election.
Many voters were unable to vote due to malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in many polling units across the state.
Nkwachukwu Orji, the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), made this known at a news briefing held at the INEC headquarters, Awka on Saturday.
Nkwachukwu said the decision became imperative to enable all eligible voters who filed out at various polling units to vote but couldn’t due to the malfunctioning of the system, to cast their votes.
Voting was meant to stop by 2:30 pm on Saturday, but there had been clamour by many across the state for an extension of the exercise because the machines malfunctioned.
The State REC said the BVAS malfunctioned because of technical glitches in the system, assuring that the electoral body was already working to rectify the problem.
“In line with existing regulations and guidelines of the commission, any intending voter who is on the queue by 4 pm shall be allowed to vote.
Upon inquiry by Newsmen, the REC said what it means is that even if it takes till Monday for the last voter standing on queue as at 4 pm on Saturday to vote, it will do so.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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