Yiaga Africa has called on the National Assembly to amend the 2022 Electoral Act to allow early voting for people rendering essential services.
This is following their election observation mission to Liberia.
They called on the National Assembly to make electronic transmission of results mandatory.
The body also said the upload of results from polling units and results sheets used at different levels of results collation should be transmitted electronically.
Yiaga Africa also said the law should be amended to include pictures of candidates participating in every election.
Speaking at a press conference to unveil its report on the Election Study and Observation Mission (ESOM) to the Liberia 2023 General Elections, tagged: “Liberia 2023 Elections and Lessons for Nigeria,” the executive director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said political stakeholders should demonstrate a firm commitment to democracy and nation-building by upholding national values such as patriotism, integrity and public interest in electoral politics.
“INEC should review the format of ballot papers used in Nigeria elections to include photographs and names of candidates to improve the quality of electoral preferences and reduce invalidated votes.
“INEC and state electoral commissions should commit to greater transparency in election administration through proactive disclosure of election information and consistent application of election rules and guidelines.
“The National Assembly and INEC should amend the electoral legal framework (Electoral Act and INEC Guidelines) to introduce early voting to allow eligible voters on essential election duties, such as security personnel, INEC staff, election observers, journalists, etc., to vote at elections.
“The National Assembly should review the Electoral Act to address the ambiguities in the results collation and transmission process and the role of technology in the results management value chain.
“The National Assembly should strengthen the electoral law to make electronic transmission of results mandatory, including the upload of polling unit-level results and results sheets used at different levels of results collation,” Itodo said.
