VOTERS SEEK EXTENSION OF CONTINUOUS VOTER REGISTRATION IN CROSS RIVER Voters in Calabar had called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Cross River beyond Aug. 25. Some of the voters said in Calabar that they had been finding it difficult to register. Mr Sunday Michael, a taxi driver, said he tried several times to get registered at Ikot Ishie registration point close to his house but could not because of the crowd. ``I was here on Wednesday and waited for more than three hours. I came again on Thursday and met the same situation and as you can see today the situation is worse. ``I think there should be no time limit; people should be allowed to do their registration whenever they have the time,’’ Michael opined. He said that the exercise would surely disenfranchise many eligible voters if INEC insists on the Aug. 25 deadline. At Government Secondary School, Calabar, another voter, Mr Albert Adinam, a student, said he came to the centre as early as 8 a.m. on Thursday and stayed till 3 p.m. without registering. According to him, he registered in 2011 but did not find his name in the print out which necessitated his coming to register again. ``This is very serious that somebody will come here and stay a whole day without being registered. ``I registered during the 2011 registration and even voted but surprisingly my name and passport was not on the list. ``I think INEC has no option than to extend the dateline of this exercise by at least two weeks to enable many eligible voters to register,’’ Adinam said. A public servant, Mrs Maria Odey, also complained of not finding her name in the 2011 register and that it had been hard to register because of the timing and the large turnout at the registration centres. ``I thought it was going to be a simple exercise but I was wrong because the crowd that I saw everyday, I could not believe it. ``The best thing is for INEC to extend the exercise up to one month to enable civil servants who did not find their names in the 2011 register key into the exercise. ``If not, many people will surely be disenfranchised,’’ Odey said. NAN observed that many registration centres had just one machine serving hundreds of voters. All efforts to speak with the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Mike Igini, proved abortive. However, an official of the commission told NAN on condition of anonymity that they were monitoring the situation. ``We still have three days remaining, so we are studying the situation,’’ the official said.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:55:48 +0000