BREAKING: Senate approves e-transmission, retains EC8A as backup for failed uploads

The Senate has bowed to mounting public pressure and passed a revised Electoral Act Amendment Bill incorporating a provision for the electronic transmission of election results from polling units.

Under the newly approved clause, the Presiding Officer at each polling unit is mandated to electronically transmit the results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

The transmission is to be carried out after Form EC8A has been duly completed, signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer, and countersigned by candidates or their polling agents, where available, at the polling unit.

However, the amendment provides an exception in situations where electronic transmission fails due to communication challenges, making it impossible to upload the signed and stamped Form EC8A to the IReV portal.

In such circumstances, the physical Form EC8A shall serve as the primary document for the collation and declaration of election results.

The development follows heightened public scrutiny and protests ahead of the Senate’s emergency plenary session convened to address concerns over the earlier version of the bill, which had omitted a mandatory electronic transmission clause.

More to come.