66,239 Voters Registered So Far In Osun – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 66,239 fresh voters have been registered in preparation for the 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun and the 2023 general elections.

This disclosure was made by Tope Ayeleso, INEC Head of Operations in a chat with journalists in Osogbo during the week.

Ayeleso, who explained that the registration exercise was still ongoing, stated that it will be on till May 2022 after which the Permanent Voter Card will be issued prior to the election.

Referring to the introduction of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines, the INEC Head of Operations stated that the machine does not give room for compromise as it encourages one man, one vote which is the essence of democracy.

As regards the preparation of the electoral umpire before the election and the difference between BIVAS and the card reader machines, Ayeleso said the commission will embark on massive voter education to enlighten voters on the usage of the machine before the election.

“The card reader will take your fingerprint but when any voter comes around to vote and the card reader is rejecting his or her fingerprint but recognises the voter card, the INEC Ad-hoc official on duty can allow the person to vote but in BIVAS, that is not possible.

“BIVAS will not allow you to vote until either your face is recognised or your fingerprint is accepted. You cannot compromise with the use of BIVAS,” he said.

He explained that the introduction of BIVAS has done away with incident forms and individuals cannot use another person’s voter card on the BIVAS machine because of its facial recognition capabilities.

He also assured that the 2022 Osun gubernatorial election was not going to present any problem because of the massive voter education and enlightenment that has been mapped out.