As Anambranians set to go to the polls today, 6 November 2021, several observers are apprehensive about the outcome of the election. The question of free and fair elections comes to the fore again. The history of gubernatorial elections in Anambra has been full of high dramas and controversies.
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In the past, elections in the state have been rigged, thuggery has been sublime, and ballot box snatching, a norm. To worsen the situation, election in today’s Anambra is and will be different from the previous elections due to the very troubled atmosphere of the State, over the agitation of the Indigenous Peoples Of Biafra (IPOB) and the arrest of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The fears of electoral rigging and ballot snatching are high across the board as a result of the agitation. In this article, we shall examine the strategies adopted by
INEC and other strategies they can adopt in ensuring a free and fair election in Anambra State and beyond.
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Different Colour Of Ballot Papers And Ballot Boxes
In 2019, INEC introduced different colours of the ballot paper and ballot boxes for the general election held in February of the same year. Accordingly, the electoral commission stated that different coloured ballot boxes and paper will be for each position: The Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives. The red ballot box and ballot paper will be for the presidential election, the black ballot paper and the ballot box will be for the senatorial, and the green will be for the House of Representatives. Despite this move, it neither curbed nor reduced electoral malpractice that plagued the 2019 general elections.
Therefore, INEC must take it a step further to stamp out or best bring electoral malpractices to their barest minimum by introducing a more efficient strategy. At the state level, each local government should have a different coloured ballot box and ballot paper. For instance, Ihiala local government’s ballot paper and the box should be red, while Awka, Idemili, Njikoka will be blue, green, and yellow, respectively.
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E-Voting
INEC and the federal government must rethink e-voting as one of the lasting strategies for free and fair elections. E-voting has proven to be most sufficient in contemporary voting systems across the world. This may take different implementations, which may be standalone voting machines (EVM) or computers connected to the internet.
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Live Real-time Monitoring Of Votes By Electorates
Furthermore, real-time vote cast should be transmitted live for effective monitoring by voters. Real-time live transmission of voters registered and vote cast on INEC’s website and it’s should be made available on various television stations to keep the people abreast. This is to avoid inflation of votes, and that the number of registered voters and several votes cast would correspond during collation and announcements of results.
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Live Electoral Transmission Results To RAC Centres
Finally, real-time votes cast should be electronically transmitted to various registration area centres (RACs), through the use of cloud computing and the Internet, where there can be effective monitoring of the electoral process. Automated collection and collation of votes should be adopted and encouraged.
In reality, much of these strategies couldn’t have been implemented in the ongoing Anambra gubernatorial election, however, they would come in necessary in upcoming elections.
Featured Image Source: Daily Post NG
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