Over 600 000 youth registered to vote
Registered voters urged to come out in numbers
More than 21 000 people with disabilities will cast their vote during the upcoming polls.
A total of 609 596 youth are registered to vote in the country’s presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled to take place next month.
Election stakeholders received this update yesterday when the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) released the final voters register and general voters registration statistics in Windhoek.
According to the ECN, the total number of registered voters stands at 1 449 569. The commission welcomed the enthusiasm of young people in registering to vote.
Voters aged 18 to 34 account for 42% of the registered voting population, while those aged 35 and older account for 58% of the registered voters.
The commission also registered 21 757 people living with disabilities, with the majority being those who are physically disabled. Some 3 199 of the total group of people with disabilities are blind.
“Today marks the formal completion of all electoral activities related to the pre-election phase and, at the same time, the formal commencement of the election phase of our electoral calendar,” ECN chairperson Dr Elsie Nghikembua said.
“The conclusion of the display and inspection period for the provisional voters register serves as a foundation for the finalisation of the final stage of running the Automated Fingerprint Information System (AFIS) to ensure integrity of the registration data as well as the production and release of the final voters register – the milestone that we are witnessing today.”
Mechanisms in place
In August, the commission released the provisional voters register with preliminary statistics of 1 451 444 registered voters, representing 90% of eligible voters.
This number dropped to 1 449 569 after it was discovered there were 1 875 multiple entries.
“Running AFIS is a continuous process executed as part of the security features incorporated in the system in preparation for the production and maintenance of a final voters register for any election. The commission was able to detect a further 1 875 multiple entries as part of the integral security measures of running AFIS at different stages,” she said.
Nghikembua added: “The multiple entries were detected from applicants who have registered twice through using different types of documents, while the previous 13 685 multiple entries reported on the release of preliminary statistics included persons who have used the same identification document.”
She added: “While further reduction shows low insignificance on the total number of registered voters during the GRV, from the perspective of maintaining security measures, this demonstrates capability and effectiveness of the AFIS. Once again, this was necessary to guarantee the integrity of the 2024 final voters register, thereby ensuring that every registered voter only appears once in the voters’ register."
Helpful data
The final statistics provide data on national generational cohorts, gender breakdown, youth turnout and people with disabilities (PWDs), as well as a breakdown of the total number of further multiple entries recorded in each region, where applicable.
“It is equally important to inform our stakeholders that part of the final statistics released today also includes a breakdown of registered voters in each local authority, which forms part of the total national voter register,” Nghikembua said.
“I urge you all as key electoral stakeholders to collectively employ effective voter education efforts to ensure that all registered voters, as shared today, are educated in preparation for polling in the same spirit employed for the voter education campaign for the GRV,” Nghikembua emphasised.
Election stakeholders received this update yesterday when the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) released the final voters register and general voters registration statistics in Windhoek.
According to the ECN, the total number of registered voters stands at 1 449 569. The commission welcomed the enthusiasm of young people in registering to vote.
Voters aged 18 to 34 account for 42% of the registered voting population, while those aged 35 and older account for 58% of the registered voters.
The commission also registered 21 757 people living with disabilities, with the majority being those who are physically disabled. Some 3 199 of the total group of people with disabilities are blind.
“Today marks the formal completion of all electoral activities related to the pre-election phase and, at the same time, the formal commencement of the election phase of our electoral calendar,” ECN chairperson Dr Elsie Nghikembua said.
“The conclusion of the display and inspection period for the provisional voters register serves as a foundation for the finalisation of the final stage of running the Automated Fingerprint Information System (AFIS) to ensure integrity of the registration data as well as the production and release of the final voters register – the milestone that we are witnessing today.”
Mechanisms in place
In August, the commission released the provisional voters register with preliminary statistics of 1 451 444 registered voters, representing 90% of eligible voters.
This number dropped to 1 449 569 after it was discovered there were 1 875 multiple entries.
“Running AFIS is a continuous process executed as part of the security features incorporated in the system in preparation for the production and maintenance of a final voters register for any election. The commission was able to detect a further 1 875 multiple entries as part of the integral security measures of running AFIS at different stages,” she said.
Nghikembua added: “The multiple entries were detected from applicants who have registered twice through using different types of documents, while the previous 13 685 multiple entries reported on the release of preliminary statistics included persons who have used the same identification document.”
She added: “While further reduction shows low insignificance on the total number of registered voters during the GRV, from the perspective of maintaining security measures, this demonstrates capability and effectiveness of the AFIS. Once again, this was necessary to guarantee the integrity of the 2024 final voters register, thereby ensuring that every registered voter only appears once in the voters’ register."
Helpful data
The final statistics provide data on national generational cohorts, gender breakdown, youth turnout and people with disabilities (PWDs), as well as a breakdown of the total number of further multiple entries recorded in each region, where applicable.
“It is equally important to inform our stakeholders that part of the final statistics released today also includes a breakdown of registered voters in each local authority, which forms part of the total national voter register,” Nghikembua said.
“I urge you all as key electoral stakeholders to collectively employ effective voter education efforts to ensure that all registered voters, as shared today, are educated in preparation for polling in the same spirit employed for the voter education campaign for the GRV,” Nghikembua emphasised.
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