E Don Kast and INEC: Understanding the Difference
How E Don Kast, an independent civic-tech platform for documenting polling unit results, differs from INEC, Nigeria's constitutional election body, and why both matter for transparency.
When people first encounter E Don Kast, they often ask a simple question: is E Don Kast the same as INEC?
No. Both deal with election results, but they do different jobs.
What is INEC?
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is Nigeria's constitutional body responsible for conducting elections. Its responsibilities include:
- Organising federal and state elections.
- Accrediting voters and election officials.
- Conducting polling and collation.
- Declaring official election results.
- Returning elected candidates.
- Maintaining the country's official electoral records.
INEC's announced results are the legally recognised outcomes of elections in Nigeria.
What is E Don Kast?
E Don Kast is an independent, nonpartisan civic technology platform that enables citizens to document and access polling unit election results.
Rather than conducting elections, the platform helps preserve polling unit level information by allowing citizens to upload photographs of official EC8A result sheets immediately after counting has been completed. These submissions create an accessible public record of polling unit results contributed by citizens across the country.
E Don Kast does not conduct elections, collate official results, declare winners, or perform any statutory function assigned to INEC.
Different roles
INEC is responsible for administering elections and publishing official results through the legally established collation process. E Don Kast focuses on improving public access to polling unit information by making citizen-submitted EC8A forms easier to discover, explore, and understand.
The platform exists to increase transparency around polling unit data, not to replace or replicate the official electoral process.
Why polling unit results matter
The EC8A form is completed at every polling unit immediately after votes are counted. It records the votes received by each political party or candidate and is signed by election officials and party agents before results move to the next stage of collation.
Every election begins at the polling unit, so preserving these records builds a public archive of election-day information. E Don Kast allows citizens to upload these documents, making them easier for journalists, researchers, civil society organisations, observers, and members of the public to access.
Built for public access
Election information is often difficult to locate, especially at the polling unit level. E Don Kast brings together citizen-submitted polling unit results in a searchable platform where users can:
- Explore results by state, LGA, ward, or polling unit.
- View reporting coverage for an election.
- Access photographed EC8A result sheets where available.
- Compare reporting across different geographic areas.
- Explore historical election records where available.
Polling unit information should be reachable by anyone, wherever they are.