Obtaining your voter’s registration card and checking your registration status has been made easy. The Independent National Electoral Commission has succeeded in making a hereto difficult experience less tasking.
INEC started the continuous registration process on April 7, 2017, to enable qualified persons to acquire their Permanent Voters Card. Yet many Nigerians still complain of hardships involved in the process.
The Commission has outlined on its website two processes for many who do not understand the steps to be taken towards obtaining their PVCs.
The first step is that a person who wishes to register should appear at the registration centres approved by the Commission, where he/she intends to vote on election day and is close to his/her place of residence. Such a person who has not registered before should do so in the Continuous Voters Registration Phase going on across Nigeria from 9 am to 4 pm.
A credible voter who wishes to transfer his or her registration, due to any circumstances, including relocation to another place, is expected to fill an application for transfer of registered voter, where a new permanent voter card is issued by the Electoral Officer upon retrieval of the old. Also, for anyone who wishes to reapply for voters card for the upcoming elections, can do so to get an instant PVC without having to wait on long queues.
The second step is for those who are unsure of their registration status such people are advised to visit the site and follow the instructions on it, as it would lead to a voters registration verification platform that would allow one such person to fill a form to check his/her status.
Confused about where your polling unit is, that is the place to register to vote or vote, you can make use of the Polling Unit Locator Tool. This tool would lead you to selecting your specific ward and state, to a polling unit nearest to you.
By my calculations, it is 360 days to the 16th February 2019, and a credible voter registration is the first step to ensuring a free and fair election.
Feature image credit: nigerianeye.com