The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said some voters would be accorded preferential treatment during voting in the 2019 general elections.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Frankland Briyai stated this on Monday in Calabar at a meeting with People with Disabilities (PwDs).
The Commissioner said that the meeting was part of INEC’s desire to ensure that all stakeholders in the electoral process were carried along in its preparations for a credible election.
He said INEC was doing everything possible to ensure that everyone eligible voted in the election irrespective of his or her condition.
According to him, the commission is making special arrangements for PwDs to vote easily at the polling boots.
“The aged and People with Disabilities are to be given preferential treatment during voting and INEC is working on ensuring that all votes count this time,” he said.
He revealed that INEC registered 1,527,058 voters for the forthcoming General Elections.
He said that the number represented those registered before 2015 election and during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) from 2017 to Aug. 2018.
He, however, said that some Permanent Voter Cards were yet to be collected, but expressed the hope that the number would be reduced drastically before the election.
“We have taken the PVCs collection to the wards and reports are coming in and we hope that before the elections all the cards may be collected,” he said.
Briyai advised the PwDs who were yet to collect their cards to visit the nearest collection centers in their area and collect their cards, so as to enable them vote during the election.