The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is considering introducing a policy to retrieve and destroy Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, that have remained unclaimed for ten years.
This proposal is one of 208 recommendations resulting from the commission’s review of the 2023 general elections.
The initiative is aimed at addressing the longstanding issue of unclaimed PVCs, with over six million cards left uncollected as of the 2023 elections, including many issued as far back as 2015.
Participants in the post-election review suggested that INEC should tackle this backlog by withdrawing PVCs that have been uncollected for extended periods, starting with those distributed in 2015.
The reasoning is that such cards are unlikely to be claimed and are causing unnecessary strain on the voter management system.
“Following the publication of the Register of Voters, the commission made available the PVCs for collection by voters on December 12, 2022. The exercise was initially planned to end on the 22nd of January 2023. However, the fact that a huge number of registered voters had yet to collect their PVCs forced the commission to extend the deadline to the 5th of February 2023 after devolving the collection to the ward level between January 6-15, 2023 to ease the process.
“The low rate of PVC collection and other related challenges are illustrative of the problem of processing and managing voters in Nigeria. To increase the rate of collection of PVCs, the commission implemented a policy that made it possible for voters to locate their PVCs online and subsequently pick them up. Several CSOs supported the commission’s drive to increase PVC collection by working with INEC’s state/FCT Offices to record all uncollected PVCs and to inform their owners where and how to collect them.
“With support from the development partners, some of the CSOs also created information centres in selected states and the FCT to assist voters locate and collect their PVCs. Despite these efforts, over six million PVCs remained uncollected, many of them dating back to 2015.
“Consequently, one recommendation from the review was that the commission should consider withdrawing PVCs issued in 2015 since it is not clear if the owners will ever collect them,” INEC said.
The commission has also outlined plans to modernize Nigeria’s electoral system, which include gradually discontinuing the use of PVCs and introducing voting for Nigerians living abroad.
According to the commission, the adoption of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, could eliminate the need for PVCs in the accreditation process. Instead, voters might rely on computer-generated slips or digital credentials downloaded from the commission’s website.
“Unlike the SCR, the voters’ register is now resident in the BVAS. The new device does not read and extract voters’ details from the PVC. Moreover, the Electoral Act 2022 has made biometric accreditation (fingerprint or facial) mandatory for voting.
“The utility of the PVC is now limited to voter identification. It is therefore possible to identify voters using their registration slips which obviates the need for PVCs, the cost of producing them, the logistics for their distribution and the fact that voters without them are unable to vote, thus raising serious issues of disenfranchisement. With the BVAS, voters can be identified using their registration slips otherwise known as the Temporary Voter’s Card and accredited biometrically without the need for a plastic PVC.
“However, such a step requires the amendment of Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 which makes the presentation of the card (PVC) to the PO at the PU mandatory before accreditation and voting,” the recommendation said.
