All hands are on deck as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prepares to conduct another general election for Nigerian electorates – 7th since 1999 after the military government handed over power. This election would produce the 5th civilian president to occupy Aso Rock after Olusegun Obasanjo became president in 1999.
As candidates compete for the electorates’ goodwill across the country, citizens with their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) still await the best candidate for the top seat. Also, several orientation programmes are ongoing to sensitise voters on how to vote and what to know before election day. However, some candidates are at a loss on terms they’ve encountered recently and what they imply.
In this article, DUBAWA list out election-related terms that electorates need to be aware of before going to the poll on February 25.
Abbreviations
- PVC (Permanent Voters’ Card): This is the identity card authorised by the Commission that voters can take to the poll to exercise their franchise
- PU (Polling Unit): A location assigned by the Commission where electorates in an area can cast their votes.
- RA (Ward): An assigned location where results gathered from polling units in a specified geographical area can be collated for submission.
- CVR (Continuous Voters Registration): The process of registering for the collection of PVC. This entails the pre-registration process, where personal details can be submitted online via the CVR portal, and biometrics data collection must be done physically.
- BVAs (Bimodal Voter Accreditation system): A tool used during the election period to verify electorates’ identity and validity. It is also used to electronically transmit the election result after vote counting for accessibility on the result viewing portal.
- IReV (INEC Result Viewing portal): An online website portal where electorates can access uploaded results of previous elections conducted by the Commission.
- PO (Presiding Officer): An electoral official that presides over the election process at the polling unit. This includes the voting process, sorting, counting, and result announcement.
- CO (Collation Officer): An electoral official that collates the election result at the designation level. The ward CO collates all polling unit results within the ward. There are COs at the local government level accountable to the state CO, who delivers to the federal level, headed by the Chief Electoral Commissioner (INEC chairman).
- RO (Returning Officer): An election official that presides over the collation, announcement and transmission of election results at the constituency collation centre.
- PWD (Persons with Disabilities): Any electorate or electoral officer that is visually or physically impaired and requires special aid to access the polling unit.
- CSO (Civil Society Organisation): A non-governmental organisation that advocates and monitors government-related policies and activities, including election processes.
Forms
- Form EC8A: A copy of the polling unit’s final election result scanned by the presiding officer and uploaded on the election result viewing portal.
- Form EC60E: A copy of the polling unit’s final election results accessible for the electorates.
- Form EC 40H: This form contains information and statistics on PWD electorates at each polling unit.
- Form EC 14A: This form is used for applications to serve as election observers
(A collection of other election-related forms inaccessible to electorates can be found here).
Election process
- Electorate: A citizen eligible to vote after undergoing all necessary registration.
- Valid votes: The number of votes properly cast on the ballot paper, which decides the election result.
- Ballot box: A transparent box where filled ballot papers are inserted for vote counting.
- Secret ballot: A voting system where the electorates’ identity on the ballot paper is anonymous. The electorate thumbs the preferred party choice in the cubicle and subsequently drops into the ballot box.
- Overvoting: When the number of votes cast exceeds the number of voters accredited at a polling unit.
- Void: When a fingerprint is placed inappropriately on a ballot paper and recognised as such during vote counting.
- Accreditation: The process of verifying the validity of an electorate at the polling unit. This is done through identity authentication with the BVAs.
- Vote counting: The process of sorting and counting the number of votes in a ballot box at a polling unit.