Organizational Chart
The Electoral Department consists of three sections namely: –
Administration Section
- Civic & Voter Education Unit
Registration Section
- Data Control Unit
- Filing/Verification
Management Information Systems (MIS) Unit
ADMINISTRATION SECTION
This section is responsible for the management and administrative functioning of the department. Resource persons comprise the Chief Elections Officer, an Assistant Chief Elections Officer, a Secretary who also serves as secretary to the Electoral Commission, Assistant Accountant, Civic & Voter Education Coordinator, Accounts Clerk, Office Assistant and a Driver altogether constituting Administration.
Communication is the life of this section; from the handling of correspondence cooperate in the typing, filing and distribution of information, are just a few of the many tasks performed. The Assistant Accountant assumes the role of the department’s accountant. This officer is responsible for the purchasing of goods and services, payment of salaries and wages to staff, preparation of budgets and other forecasts to names a few. The Office Assistant and the Driver both facilitate prompt communication action where necessary.
- Civic & Voter Education Unit which is Sub-Unit of the Administration Section
This unit is mainly responsible for:-
- Dissemination of relevant information to the electorate, the general public schools and other organizations
- Playing a major role in shaping public opinion on the function of the department and its purpose in promoting the democratic processes.
- Producing the department brochures, handouts, and posters
These activities are co-ordinate by the department’s Research & Education Officer
REGISTRATION SECTION
This section is manned by trained registration clerks, who carefully undertake a variety of procedures and processes in order to ensure that all qualified applicants are correctly registered. Some of the procedures include conducting personal interviews and photographing or camera operations. These officers are supervised by a Senior Registration Assistant.
Data Control Unit
This sub-unit of the Registration Section is responsible for the entry of all registration particulars to the Electoral Registration Application System in terms of new registrations, changes of address, changes of name and deletions from the register. It is also responsible for altering registration information on the registration record cards. i.e. master and poll cards.
The unit is manned by a Supervisor, a Senior Data Control Officer and two (2) data control clerks
Verification/Filing – a Sub-Unit of the Registration Section
A process of verification is carried out from time to time by means of a house-to-house enumeration for the purpose of ensuring that persons interviewed have been duly registered in regard to their place of residence within their electoral districts.
During this process, information on deceased registrants who may not have been expunged from the electoral lists may be obtained. The exercise is also helpful in obtaining information on persons otherwise qualified as electors who have been absent from the state for a continuous period of three years or more who may be expunged by the Chief Elections Officer.
This activity, which is provided for in the Elections Act, completes the Voter Registration process by its cleansing functions, thus ensuring the correctness of the registration.
An internal audit such as the checking of the Registration Record Cards against the Voters Lists are also carried out by the verification staff. This unit is headed by a Verification Supervisor with support from a Senior Verification Officer and two filing/verification clerks.
Verification/Filing Sub- Unit of Registration
The Verification/Filing section functions as a sub-unit of the Registration Section. The unit is responsible for the maintaining of copies of all relevant registration documents of electors.
A process of verification is carried out from time to time by means of a house-to-house verification exercise for the purpose of ensuring that persons are duly registered within their electoral districts.
The Unit is also responsible for internal audits i.e. checking of the registration record cards against the voters lists
The unit is headed by a Supervisor, and is ably supported a by a Senior Verification Officer and two (2) Filing/Verification Clerks.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM ((MIS) UNIT
The management and accuracy of information within the electoral process surrounds the handling of large volumes of data, in this regard, computerization is one of the most effective methods of improving the efficiency and reliability of the process.
This section is responsible for:-
- Storage and maintenance of all registration data
- The security and integrity of the data and the computer network systems
- The production of the voters’ lists
- Generating management reports and other statistical data for analysis and interpretation in an effort to enhance the electoral processes.
The unit is headed by a Systems Network Administrator and an Assistant Network
Administrator/Computer Technician