Namibian elections conducted fairly, says Oshana regional electoral officer

Oshana regional electoral officer Amon Haimbangu has said in his view the Namibian elections were conducted in a free and fair manner.Over the weekend, he told Namibian Sun he was satisfied with the election process overall in the regionHaimbangu made these remarks at the Danger Ashipala Soccer Field polling station, in the Ondangwa Urban constituency, one of the areas designated for a second round of voting following the Electoral Commission of Namibia&#039;s (ECN) decision to extend voting in some areas of the country. Voting was also extended in select other regions across the country.More time to voteIn Oshana’s Okatyali constituency, seven polling stations were open for extended voting, four in Oshakati East constituency, while Opuwo Rural constituency had 13 polling stations.Haimbangu noted that even voters who were turned away due to a shortage of ballot papers remained peaceful, which helped ease the overall voting process.Addressing some of the challenges faced during the elections, he noted that one key factor to consider compared to previous elections is Namibia&#039;s population growth. In past elections, the ECN managed smaller voter numbers, he said. “The population has grown by now," he said.He added that despite this, "we have not seen major incidents of violence [and] we are grateful to Namibians for being so peaceful."Haimbangu conceded that one of the primary challenges encountered during the elections was a shortage of ballot papers at some polling stations.Nevertheless, despite these hurdles, he said: "Overall, we performed well. Looking at the speed of the election process, we have improved compared to previous elections."Low turnout at OkatyaliBy Saturday afternoon, only 131 voters had cast their votes across all seven centres in the Okatyali constituency.Saara Ruben, the presiding officer at the Okasheshete Community Hall in the constituency, reported that her polling station was quiet, with only one voter casting their vote on Friday night.Ruben added that six people arrived early at 07:00 but left later when the station still lacked the necessary voting materials.“I took their numbers so I could let them know when I had received the ballot papers, but only one returned,” she said.Haimbangu noted the low turnout of voters in the Okatyali constituency, which was given the second highest number of polling stations in the second round of voting.“Generally we don’t expect such a big number to come out of Okatyali because many people have already voted. And looking at the statistics from the general registration of voters, we did not have so many numbers out of Okatyali, but because we want to accord everyone else an opportunity to vote, hence the extension,” he said.#NamibiaDecides2024

Namibian elections conducted fairly, says Oshana regional electoral officer

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Namibian elections conducted fairly, says Oshana regional electoral officer

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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