SA company wins ballot tender
As Namibia discards the controversial EVM regime which provides no paper trail, a Durban-based entity has won the job to print ballots.
OGONE TLHAGE
WINDHOEK
A South African company has won the contract to print ballot papers for the regional and local authority elections slated for November 25, Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro has confirmed. Five companies – two of them Namibian - submitted bids for the printing of the ballot papers.
The other three are all South African, Mujoro told Namibian Sun's online show The Evening Review, airing tonight at 18:00.
The successful bidder, Uniprint Forms, will rake in N$1.8 million for the job. Other companies that submitted bids included Ebbrie Genesis, which submitted a bid of N$1 million, Schoemans Technology and Gibson Security Printing, which submitted a bid of N$2.6 million, Ren-Form, which submitted a bid of N$3.9 million, and Solitaire Press, which submitted a bid of N$4.2 million.
Mujoro said Uniprint has a good track record and previous experience of printing ballot papers within Southern and Eastern Africa.
“We have selected the Durban-based company to print our ballot papers for the upcoming elections. Looking at their track record, I can state confidently that they are a reputable entity,” the veteran electoral administrator said.
“We believe they will be able to do a good job in terms of printing our papers in accordance with our specifications and delivering them on time for our elections.”
The company had in the past printed ballot papers for the electoral commissions in South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania, Mujoro said.
Another factor that motivated the ECN in its choice was the company's bid price, Mujoro said.
“Because of the price competency but also because of their track record, this company came out tops. We are satisfied with how things turned out.”
Verification
Political parties, independent candidates and associations will be invited to inspect the company to establish for themselves whether the process of printing the ballot papers would be fair.
“We will invite all political parties, independent candidates and associations [who want to visit Uniprint in South Africa at their own cost] to inspect the premises and to satisfy themselves with the quality assurance.”
A second round of inspections will be conducted by stakeholders in the electoral process once the ballot papers arrive.
“Once the papers arrive in Namibia, we will make sure all contesting parties, candidates and associations [are present] when we open these ballots to ascertain how many papers were printed, for which constituency and local authority,” Mujoro said.
Bitter past
In the past, the ECN had awarded several tenders for the printing of ballot papers to Namprint, a company owned by the ruling party Swapo.
The company printed ballots for the 1999 general election and was awarded the same job in 2004 and 2009. However, in 2009 ECN rescinded its decision to award the tender to Namprint after the opposition threatened to boycott the election, citing fear of ballot-stuffing.
Ren-form CC, a South African company, eventually got the tender to print ballot papers in 2009.
Paper trail
The ECN also assured it would comply with a Supreme Court judgment on the use of verifiable paper trails in elections.
“The Supreme Court laid down a very important judgment; the ECN is complying with that judgment but because we are unable to use EVMs with a [verifiable] paper trail, we are complying with the Supreme Court judgment,” Mujoro said.
“We built sufficient security protocols around managing the electoral process using ballot papers,” he added.
WINDHOEK
A South African company has won the contract to print ballot papers for the regional and local authority elections slated for November 25, Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro has confirmed. Five companies – two of them Namibian - submitted bids for the printing of the ballot papers.
The other three are all South African, Mujoro told Namibian Sun's online show The Evening Review, airing tonight at 18:00.
The successful bidder, Uniprint Forms, will rake in N$1.8 million for the job. Other companies that submitted bids included Ebbrie Genesis, which submitted a bid of N$1 million, Schoemans Technology and Gibson Security Printing, which submitted a bid of N$2.6 million, Ren-Form, which submitted a bid of N$3.9 million, and Solitaire Press, which submitted a bid of N$4.2 million.
Mujoro said Uniprint has a good track record and previous experience of printing ballot papers within Southern and Eastern Africa.
“We have selected the Durban-based company to print our ballot papers for the upcoming elections. Looking at their track record, I can state confidently that they are a reputable entity,” the veteran electoral administrator said.
“We believe they will be able to do a good job in terms of printing our papers in accordance with our specifications and delivering them on time for our elections.”
The company had in the past printed ballot papers for the electoral commissions in South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania, Mujoro said.
Another factor that motivated the ECN in its choice was the company's bid price, Mujoro said.
“Because of the price competency but also because of their track record, this company came out tops. We are satisfied with how things turned out.”
Verification
Political parties, independent candidates and associations will be invited to inspect the company to establish for themselves whether the process of printing the ballot papers would be fair.
“We will invite all political parties, independent candidates and associations [who want to visit Uniprint in South Africa at their own cost] to inspect the premises and to satisfy themselves with the quality assurance.”
A second round of inspections will be conducted by stakeholders in the electoral process once the ballot papers arrive.
“Once the papers arrive in Namibia, we will make sure all contesting parties, candidates and associations [are present] when we open these ballots to ascertain how many papers were printed, for which constituency and local authority,” Mujoro said.
Bitter past
In the past, the ECN had awarded several tenders for the printing of ballot papers to Namprint, a company owned by the ruling party Swapo.
The company printed ballots for the 1999 general election and was awarded the same job in 2004 and 2009. However, in 2009 ECN rescinded its decision to award the tender to Namprint after the opposition threatened to boycott the election, citing fear of ballot-stuffing.
Ren-form CC, a South African company, eventually got the tender to print ballot papers in 2009.
Paper trail
The ECN also assured it would comply with a Supreme Court judgment on the use of verifiable paper trails in elections.
“The Supreme Court laid down a very important judgment; the ECN is complying with that judgment but because we are unable to use EVMs with a [verifiable] paper trail, we are complying with the Supreme Court judgment,” Mujoro said.
“We built sufficient security protocols around managing the electoral process using ballot papers,” he added.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article