The Senate has rejected a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that would have made it mandatory to transmit election results electronically.

According to Channels Television, the amendment would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to send results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time, once Form EC8A had been signed, stamped, and countersigned by party agents.

Instead, the Senate decided to keep the current rule in the Electoral Act, which allows presiding officers to transmit results, including the total number of accredited voters, “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”