An Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presiding officer, Blessing Egoigwe, fainted during the Anambra governorship election on Saturday.

The incident occurred at Polling Unit 005 in Enugwu-Ukwu, Njikoka Local Government Area.

Ms Egoigwe fainted at the height of complaints from a large crowd of people and confusion resulting from the malfunctioning of the BVAS.

The victim was later rushed to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention.

More than 470 voters were denied the right to cast their votes in the Enugwu-Ukwu Community Ward 2 Polling Unit 005 in Njikoka Local Government Area.

The malfunctioning of the BVAS and difficulty for the machine to recognise voters’ cards of newly registered voters caused the uproar.

Blessing Okoye, 18, and a first-time voter, said she was denied the opportunity due to a lack of functional BVAS that failed to capture her fingerprint.

Ms Okoye said she was pained over the challenge and felt demoralised in the process and appealed to the electoral body to improve the system.

“My hope to vote for a candidate of my choice was dashed by INEC today,” she stated.

Ifeoma Iloeze, a 55-year-old voter, said she was unable to vote after waiting from morning till this evening, 6:29 p.m., due to the BVAS’ failure to capture her face.

Ms Iloeze said the experience was painful and advised that an alternative way of voting should be in place in the next election.

An INEC technician was alerted to the situation in the area, and he visited the polling unit, but little improvement was made.

Some deceased voters were listed on the posted list of registered voters.

(NAN)