Anambra Elections: NGO Deploys Observers For Continuous Voter Registration (Cvr)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will be decentralizing the Continuous Voters registration to ward Registration centers in Anambra State from the 10^th -15^th of August 2017, as part of its ongoing nationwide CVR exercise. The CVR will be conducted in the 326 wards in Anambra state in preparation for the November elections in the State. The exercise is designed to update the voter register with the registration of citizens who turned 18 after the last voter registration exercise; or those who couldn’t register in previous CVR exercises. Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will be distributed during the exercise as well issues relating to transfer of registered voters, lost or omitted PVCs will be addressed during the exercise. More so, INEC will be introducing the new Direct Data Capturing (DDC) Machine for the decentralized Anambra CVR.

Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) will deploy its Watching The Vote (WTV) election observation methodology during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise. The objectives of the observation include; to assess the process of the CVR, to verify the functionality of the new DDC machine and to enhance the compliance of INEC to electoral guidelines.

YIAGA’s #WatchingTheVote is an advanced observation methodology that uses well-established statistical principles and sophisticated information technology for reporting and assessment of electoral activities. Using this methodology, YIAGA will provide the most timely and accurate information on the conduct of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), Permanent Voter Card (PVC) distribution and Transfer of Registered Voters.

For the CVR in Anambra, YIAGA WTV is deploying 75 accredited citizen observers to rotationally observe at least 225 wards out of the 326 CVR ward centers across the state. The WTV observers will observe at their daily assigned registration wards from the arrival and opening of the registration centers to the closing of registration on assigned days during the CVR exercise. Assigned days for observation include 10^th, 12^th and 15^th of August 2017.  Observers will also report on any critical incident they witness or are reported to them.

All WTV observers will send in their observation reports via coded text message using their mobile phones. The reports will be received directly into a sophisticated database located at the YIAGA’s WTV Data Centre in Abuja for review, verification and analysis.

YIAGA-WTV will issue interim report on the process based on reports from its observers, this will be shared with the public, Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), political parties, civic society organizations and other stakeholders.

About YIAGA

The Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) is YIAGA is a civic hub dedicated to the promotion of democracy, accountability and citizens’ participation. In pursuit of its goal of enhancing the quality of elections, YIAGA deploys citizens’ observers to observe the conduct of activities within the electoral cycle under its Watching The Vote project. This is informed by the need to deepen electoral integrity and accountability. Through its network of election observers, YIAGA promotes the conduct of elections in line with democratic principles and global standards.

Signed.

Samson Itodo

Executive Director

For media inquiries please contact:

Cynthia Mbamalu: Tel. +234 (0) 806 076 3786

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Moshood Isah: Tel. +234 (0) 703 666 9339

Email: [email protected]

Learn more about #WatchingTheVote at www.watchingthevote.org  or on social media on Facebook at fb.com/yiaga.org or on Twitter @YIAGA.