How to check your polling units ahead of elections, as INEC creates 56,872 new ones

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the procedures for voters to confirm their polling units before the February 25th Presidential and National Assembly election. 

According to the electoral umpire, this became necessary following the creation of an additional 56,872 polling units, even as some voters have been migrated to the new units. 

In a notice posted on its Twitter page, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, was quoted to have said that following the recent nationwide mock accreditation exercise using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), some voters turned up at the wrong polling units. Hence, the need for this notice ahead of next weekend’s election.

MESSAGE TO VOTERS FROM INEC CHAIRMAN
📍Identify your PU before 25th
Feb
📍Text State, last name & last 6 digits
of your VIN to 09062830860 or
09062830861 for your PU name
OR
📍Visit https://t.co/2AKo2EWDDx OR
https://t.co/3HqNQOQFvz for your
PU name pic.twitter.com/cOeW9mAi4T

— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) February 17, 2023

Voters migration: While noting that the Commission created the new polling units to expand voter access to where they can vote, the INEC Chairman said many do not know where their units are. He said:

• “This happened both in cases where voters have been migrated to other polling units by the Commission and even where they voluntarily chose new voting locations during the last continuous voter Registration (CvR). We believe that there could be other voters in the same situation. This challenge must be addressed so that it does not happen on Election Day.” 

To ease the process, the Chairman said the Commission would be sending bulk phone text messages (SMS) to citizens voting in new polling units. Similarly, the register of such voters for each State has been sent to the Resident Electoral Commissioners for publicity, particularly through messages in local languages. 

• “Furthermore, the Commission is offering two unique ways by which all voters can locate and confirm their Polling Units before Election Day. This can be done by sending a normal text message or by Simply Visiting our website,” he said. 

How to confirm your polling units: According to INEC, there are two ways for voters to confirm their polling units, which are either through SMS or the Commission’s website. 

To check through SMS, a voter is required to:  

Text the name of your State, last name (surname), and the Last 6 digits of your Voter Identification Number (VIN)to 09062830860 or 09062830861 

To check on the Commission’s website, INEC said voters should visit:  

www.voters.inecnigeria.org 

 or  

www.cvr.inecnigeria. org/vvs