The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) says more polling units in Osun State have reported malfunctions with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during Saturday’s governorship election.
The development has raised concerns among voters in affected polling units, with accreditation reportedly delayed in some locations as electoral officials work to resolve the technical difficulties.
The CJID, which is monitoring the election through its observers, said the incidents were recorded in more polling units as voting progressed across the state.
BVAS is being used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to verify voters through biometric authentication before they are allowed to cast their ballots.
INEC had earlier said it deployed 3,763 BVAS devices across the state’s 3,763 polling units, alongside 664 additional devices as backups to address possible technical problems during the process
The commission had also assured stakeholders that specialised technical personnel would be available to respond to hardware glitches during the exercise.
The latest reports of BVAS malfunctions could, however, lead to delays in accreditation and voting in affected polling units, particularly where technical problems take longer to resolve.
The Osun governorship election is being contested by candidates of 14 political parties across the state’s 30 local government areas.
Voting is expected to continue in polling units where accreditation and voting were delayed, in line with electoral procedures.
