The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that the lifespan of the voters’ card is limitless.
Resident Electoral Commissioner for Imo State, Prof. Francis Chukwuemeka Ezeonu, in Owerri, stressed that the present voters’ card supersede the earlier arrangement where voters’ cards are re-printed after every 10 years.
He said the online registration, which started on Monday, has already started yielding results as a reasonable number of people have registered and the recent technology deployed by the commission makes it possible for the card to be used without expiration.
Ezeonu said the creation of voting units was intentionally made to precede the continuous voters registration so that new polling units would be made available to voters.
He added that the new online registration will not eliminate the existing method, but provide alternate method for those who have access to internet facilities, thereby reducing the inconveniences on voters and also reduce the number of voters that would have to queue up at registration centres.
Ezeonu, however, disclosed that some voters’ cards were affected by the recent attacks, adding that some were retrieved and integrity tests conducted to ensure that they can be read by the card readers.
The REC enjoined eligible voters in Imo to take advantage of the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise as it could determine future allocation of voting units.
