Share
Issues relating to polling units in democracy remain critical because of the role of the electorate. In this report, KUNLE ODEREMI and TAIWO AMODU write on the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create more polling units across the country vis-a-vis the credibility of elections.
Polling unit constitutes a fundamental building block for credible election. It serves as the real platform for eligible citizens to exercise their franchise since a polling unit or station is a place, where eligible persons can register to vote in an election.
There are about 120 000 polling units disproportionately spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Some of the units have multiple voting points due to density of the population of registered voters, especially in urban areas.
Summary
In its annual progress report, the Monitoring Committee takes
stock of its activities since January 2020 and assesses the progress
made by the 11 countries under the Assembly’s full monitoring procedure,
and by the 3 countries engaged in a post monitoring dialogue, in
honouring their obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe.
It welcomes progress made and expresses concerns at setbacks and
addresses specific recommendations to the countries concerned.
In this reporting period, the committee prepared reports on
“The functioning of democratic institutions in Poland” on the basis
of which the Assembly opened a monitoring procedure with respect
of this country; on the “Challenge, on substantive grounds, of the