On February 13, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that 240 polling units (PU) nationwide would be excluded from voting. However, don’t worry. It’s not for the usual reasons.
The commission explained that there’d be no elections in these 240 PUs because between June 2021 and July 2022, when the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was on, no single voter chose those polling units as their preferred voting point. There was also no transfer to these affected PUs.
Which polling units are affected?
The polling units cut across 28 states of the federation. INEC shared the complete list via its Twitter page. Here are a few screenshots of some of the excluded PUs.
What else should I know?
The INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu explained that polling units increased in 2021 from 119,973 to 176,846, adding over 56,000 PUs to the existing number. This process is called delimitation.
In simple terms, this refers to the drawing of electoral boundaries by dividing them into wards and polling units. The last time such a thing happened was in 1996.
The chairman also spoke on the mock accreditation exercise on February 4. He said the feedback INEC got from it was that many Nigerians weren’t aware of the location of their PUs. He promised that a phone number would be available soon for people to send texts to confirm the location of their PUs.
INEC also said voters whose PUs have been changed would receive text messages from them.
How can I locate my PU?
If you’re a registered voter unsure where to vote, visit this link here. All you’ll be required to provide is your name, date of birth, and state and local government of registration. Oh, there’s a captcha test too, but that’s easy. Alternatively, you can locate your PU using your voter identification number (VIN).
A comprehensive list of PUS by name, code number and their locations by state, local government and registration area will be made available by INEC soon.
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