Here are the initiatives planned for the 2015 race

a. Voter Accreditation: The Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and the Electronic Card Readers
were introduced for accreditation of registered voters. Each swipe of the card sends an
entry to a database at INEC. This process is to ensure that the number of votes cast at the
Polling Unit cannot be higher than the number of accredited votes.

b. Database Security: The INEC database has been kept off-line to protect it from hacking or
any other type of external threat. Any breach on the database security can only be from
INEC officials. As a result, INEC has also implemented security protocols to control access
to the database and to ensure that any violation can be traced to the culprit.

c. Voting Materials Management: The ballot papers have a number of enhanced security
features (similar to currency notes) to ensure they cannot be manipulated or forged.
Ÿ The ballot papers are kept in a vault in the offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria
nationwide until it is time to move the materials for the actual voting.
Ÿ The materials are moved from the vaults to the INEC office in the State under the
surveillance of the police, INEC officials, and party officials.
Ÿ From the INEC office, the ballot materials are moved on the eve of the elections to the
Registration Area Centres. Each Centre, which serves as a hub for the storage of electoral materials, has been established at a maximum of 3-hour travel time to the
farthest Polling Unit.

d. Tamper-proof materials: The ballot documents will be transported in tamper-proof bags
which will be opened only at the Polling Units in the presence of INEC officials, security
agents, party representatives and the voters. The ballot boxes also have tamper-proof locks
to prevent any form of interference.

e. Local Transportation of Materials: INEC has formal agreements with transportation
providers in each of the states of the Federation. These service providers will move the
elections materials, under the surveillance of INEC officials and security agents, from the
Registration Area Centres to the Polling Units.

f. Colour Coding of Election Materials: The ballot papers and ballot boxes have been colour
coded by State, Local Government Areas, and Polling Units to make it more difficult for
manipulation. As a result of the colour codes, ballot documents or boxes that are for
particular Polling Units cannot be used at any other Polling Units.

g. Result Collation: INEC officials are no longer involved in the collation of results. Rather,
university Vice Chancellors and senior academics now undertake this role. This model has
been piloted with the governorship elections since 2011 and there have not been any
complaints so far.

h. Integrity of Result Sheet: There is only one result sheet for each Polling Unit. Any
destruction of the Result Sheet nullifies the votes from the Polling Unit. Any errors or
inconsistencies in registering the results must be counter-signed (like a banking document)
by all the authorised parties.

i. Voter Information: Voters can use SMS technology to check their details, voting
locations/centres, etc. prior to arriving at the Polling Unit. Voters are encouraged to send an
SMS to the short code (20120) in the following format: INEC, state of registration, last name,
last five digits of the Voter Identification Number on the Temporary Voters Card.

j. Protecting the Votes: INEC Election Manual states that voters have the right to stay behind
in the polling units to ensure the integrity of the vote counting process. However, police
authorities prefer that the voters should leave the Polling Units after casting their votes for
fear that they may be under-resourced to control the crowd if violence were to ensue
following the announcement of the results.

Source: http://www.nextierlimited.com/publication/

Are you A learner?

Abeg it is still very much riggable Even d US can boast of a 100percent free n fair electn.