Nigeria Content Online

Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s policy of asking voters to vote
and wait is a recipe for violence at the polling booths and collating
centres, some residents of Plateau have opined. Under that arrangement,
voters, after casting their votes, would wait for the completion of the
exercise so that votes would be counted in their presence and the
scores announced instantly. The policy also suggested that the voters
should escort the ballot boxes and make sure they are submitted to the
collation centres where they would also wait for the results at such
centres. But some residents, who reacted to that, argued that such
situation would encourage violence as the crowd could get unruly and go
beyond the control of the two or three policemen usually assigned to
such voting and collating centres. ‘‘The intention is genuine, but if
you look at the violence that trailed the campaigns, you will agree
with me that such privileges could misfire as they will surely be
abused,” Mr Yunana Dalyob, who works with a secondary school, said.

‘‘The fact that miscreants will take up residence at the polling
booths may also scare many people from going to vote,” he said. But
Salmanu Jari, a trader, believes that such policy will promote
transparency in the electoral system as there will be no room for
electoral officers or government officials to manipulate figures. He,
however, called for more security officials as the privilege could be
abused by desperate youth who he claimed usually take drugs before
going to such voting and collating centres