Emulate Liberia, Include Photos Of Candidates On Ballot Papers - YIAGA to INEC, NASS

 

Yiaga Africa has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission and the National Assembly to include photos of candidates on ballot papers as done in Liberia.

 

This was contained in a preliminary finding of the 2023 Election Study and Observation Mission (ESOM) to the October 10 Liberia 2023 General Election deployed by Yiaga Africa from October 7-13.

 

The delegation was led by a former Commissioner for Political Affairs at the African Union Commission and former Nigerian Ambassador to Guinea, Aisha Abdullahi.

 

 

1. 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.

 

2. 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.

 

3. INEC should undertake a comprehensive audit of the voter register to eliminate duplications, multiple registrants and ineligible voters to improve the integrity of the voter register. The audit process should be subjected to an independent citizen review to engender public trust.

 

4. 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.

 

5. 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.

 

6. 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.

 

7. 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.