The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced on Tuesday, August 27, that starting today, Wednesday, August 28, Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will be distributed to new applicants across local government areas in Edo State.
The commission wants to remind everyone that PVCs cannot be picked up by someone else; you have to get your card yourself.
Sam Olumekun, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, shared that the collection process at the ward level wrapped up between August 22 and 26.
During these five days, 125,928 PVCs were picked up, which is 68.3% of the 184,438 new cards issued during the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. This is the highest collection rate INEC has seen since CVR started for off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
Olumekun explained that INEC managed to distribute the PVCs successfully across all 192 wards in Edo State thanks to careful planning and organization. PVCs were sorted by polling units, wards, and local government areas (LGAs), and voters were directly informed about where to collect their cards.
He added, “As we previously announced, PVCs from the recent CVR in Edo State were available for pickup at two levels: first, across all 192 wards from Thursday, August 22, to Monday, August 26, and second, at our 18 LGA offices.”
“The collection at the ward level is now complete. We learned from past experiences and organized the PVCs by polling units, wards, and LGAs. We also created a collection register and posted it on our website. We contacted voters using the addresses they provided at registration. Out of the 184,438 new PVCs, 125,928 were collected, representing 68.3%, the highest rate in five days since CVR began.”
INEC will now move the collection process to its 18 LGA offices in Edo State, starting from Wednesday, August 28, to Sunday, September 8, 2024.
The commission emphasized that PVCs must be picked up in person.
Olumekun urged all voters who haven’t picked up their PVCs yet to visit the LGA offices as soon as possible. Detailed information on LGA office locations is available on INEC’s website.
He said, “The collection will continue at our 18 LGA offices from Wednesday, August 28, to Sunday, September 8, 2024. We urge voters to come in person to collect their PVCs. Remember, no cards will be given out by proxy. Check our website for details on LGA office locations.”
