A former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, has warned that the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act could put presiding officers at risk during the 2027 general elections.
Igini said the controversial bill could reintroduce a system similar to the former incident form, particularly in situations where election officials claim there is no network connectivity to transmit results electronically.
He explained that such situations could create tension at polling units, especially when voters can confirm network availability on their mobile phones while a presiding officer insists otherwise.
According to him, this could expose presiding officers, many of whom are members of the National Youth Service Corps, to potential danger from frustrated voters.
Igini noted that youth corps members, rather than the children of political elites, are often deployed to manage polling units and may be left vulnerable to threats arising from disputes over result transmission.
He also raised concerns about the credibility of election results, citing past incidents where electoral officials allegedly compromised the serial numbers of result sheets. He questioned how authorities would identify authentic results if duplicated serial numbers are uploaded to the result viewing portal.
Igini warned that unless the concerns are addressed, the proposed amendment could undermine trust in the electoral process and create security risks for election officials.
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