Senate Moves to Mandate Electronic Result Transmission for 2027 Polls

Senate Moves to Mandate Electronic Result Transmission for 2027 Polls

The Senate has commenced moves to mandate real-time electronic transmission of results for the 2027 elections.

This legislative shift aims to resolve ambiguities in the Electoral Act 2022 that previously gave INEC discretion over transmission methods.

The proposed amendment to Section 64 requires polling unit results to be uploaded immediately to a central portal. Lawmakers believe this will eliminate manual manipulation and the “doctoring” of figures during the collation process.

By making electronic transmission compulsory, the Senate intends to modernize Nigeria’s democratic process. The goal is to restore public confidence in the ballot and ensure final tallies accurately reflect the voters’ will.

Additional reforms under consideration include unbundling INEC for better efficiency and introducing diaspora voting. These changes seek to address technical lapses experienced during the 2023 general elections through a modernized framework.

This legislative push responds to demands from civil society and stakeholders for greater transparency.

The move is viewed as a critical step in providing a more secure and verifiable roadmap for future Nigerian polls.

Highlighting the importance of this change, the Senate emphasized the need to “remove the ambiguity evident in Section 64 of the EA22. Also, make electronic transmission of results mandatory from the next general elections in 2027, including the uploading of polling unit-level results and result sheets used at different levels of result collation.”