Section 41
Ballot boxes and voting devices(1) The Commission shall provide suitable boxes, electronic voting machine or any other voting device for the conduct of elections.
(2) The forms to be used for the conduct of elections to the offices mentioned in this Act shall be determined by the Commission.
(3) The Polling agents shall be entitled to be present at the distribution of the election materials, electronic voting machine and voting devices from the office to the polling booth.
(4) Polling agents who are in attendance at a polling unit, may be entitled, before the commencement of the election, to have originals of electoral materials to be used by the Commission for the election inspected, and this process may be recorded as evidence in writing, on video or by other means by any Polling Agent, accredited observer or official of the Commission.
(5) A Polling Agent who is in attendance at a polling unit, may observe originals of the electoral materials and this may be recorded as evidence.
(6) The Commission shall, before the commencement of voting in each election, provide all election materials for the conduct of such election at the polling unit.
The section makes provision for use of ballot boxes in elections. The 2022 Act expanded on the provision to accommodate use of technology in elections by including “electronic voting machine” or any other “voting device” for the conduct of election. By so doing, it gives room for use of electronic voting while reinforcing Section 50(2) of the Act which gives INEC the discretion to determine the mode of voting.
The 2022 Act also adds that polling agents present at a polling unit may observe and inspect originals of election materials before the commencement of the election. Further adds a new provision that polling agents, accredited observers or an official of the commission may record the process as evidence in writing, by video or any other means.
A Provision in the old Act for INEC to prescribe forms for use for election petitions is removed from this section of the new Act. In addition, a provision in section 43 (4) of the repealed Act that explicitly provides that Polling Agents shall be entitled to be present at voting, counting, collation and the announcement of election results is not retained in the new Act. This right however can be inferred from other provisions of the Act that empower Polling Agents to challenge the right of a person to vote (section 48), to countersign result forms (sections 40 and 71) or to accompany election materials after collation for transmission.
Note: Paragraph 102 of the INEC Regulations for the Conduct of elections, which allows polling agents to observe the distribution of election materials, conduct of accreditation, voting, counting of ballots and the collation and declaration of results.
