ECN CEO shares on 2024 election preparedness.edited
ECN CEO shares on 2024 election preparedness.edited

Election road map ready - ECN

Elizabeth Kheibes
Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) CEO Petrus Shaama says it's back to manual ballot paper voting methods for the 2024 presidential and national elections slated for November.

Shaama said this follows a Supreme Court judgement in 2020 that barred the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) without a voter verification paper trail (VVAT).

"ECN has developed the electoral calendar, serving as a roadmap in preparation for the conduct of the presidential and national assembly (PNA) elections scheduled to take place later this year,” he confirmed.

“These elections will be preceded by the general registration of voters (GRV), during which all eligible Namibian citizens will be expected to register anew to cast their votes in the forthcoming elections," Shaama told Namibian Sun this week.

Officials appointed

Shaama added that the commission has appointed regional electoral officers who assumed duty at the start of December. The officers underwent extensive training between 5 and 17 December.

"Twelve out of 14 regions now have regional electoral officers, with the remaining positions for the Omaheke and Zambezi regions to be filled in due course. Amongst others, these officials are mainly charged with the responsibility of assisting the commission to implement its strategic agenda as outlined in its 2022–2027 strategic plan and oversee and coordinate electoral activities in the regions," he said.

Voter apathy

According to ECN, a robust civic education programme has been rolled out over the last two years.

"Voter apathy is one of the challenges identified in the 2022–2027 ECN strategic plan. As part of addressing voter apathy, the ECN initiated, for the first time in the history of this country, a civic education programme aimed at creating awareness amongst the voters participating in elections and subsequently contributing to democratic processes," the CEO added.

Unique challenges

Shaama said one of the challenges the commission foresees is that some registered voters might not turn up considering past experiences.

"The conduct of every election is unique. As much as the ECN is looking forward to registering all eligible voters, historically, we have noticed that not all registered voters turned up on polling days, and we hope that this will be addressed through the intensive and extensive voter education programme.”

He added: “We will consistently enforce the importance of all registered voters to come and exercise their democratic rights on polling day.".

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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