Dare Babalola
The Senate has rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The amendment, which underwent scrutiny during the plenary session, aimed to make it mandatory for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presiding officers to transmit polling unit results electronically to the IREV portal in real-time, seeking to enhance transparency and expedite the collation of election results.
Under the proposal, transmission would occur after results had been entered on the prescribed Form EC8A, signed and stamped by the presiding officer, and countersigned by party agents.
Lawmakers, however, declined to adopt the provision and instead retained the existing wording of the Electoral Act.
The current law gives INEC the discretion to determine how results are transmitted, stating that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
By rejecting the amendment, the Senate effectively preserved INEC’s authority to decide the mode of results transmission, rather than making electronic upload to the IREV portal a statutory requirement.
