Commission ready- urges eligible voters to go out in numbers to exercise their democratic right
The Electoral Commission of Namibia, a day before the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections has assured the public and the nation at large of the Commission’s unwavering commitment to deliver free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
The ECN chairperson, Notemba Tjipueja, said this at a media brief held in Windhoek, where she encouraged all voters to go out in numbers to exercise their democratic right and vote on Wednesday 27 November.
According to Tjipueja the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections got off to a good start with the Special Voting conducted on the 13 November.
“The election campaign was generally conducted in a peaceful manner and a calm atmosphere has prevailed across the country. No incidents of violence or intimidation have been officially reported to the ECN,” she added.
Tjipueja said the final national voters’ register stands at a total number of 1, 358,468 and the ECN has recruited a total number of 16,668 election officials.
“In terms of EVM Regulations, all the EVMs must be subjected to a First Level Check (FLC) before the voting machines are used to conduct an election. However, before the FLC took place, electoral data and all election results of the previous elections, including by-elections, were cleared from the EVM’s,” she added.
Meanwhile, she said in terms of the Electoral Act No.5 of 2014 the election results for the Presidential and National Assembly elections shall be announced at the Polling stations by the Presiding Officers and at the Collation/Constituency centers by the Returning Officers.
“However, the same Act also provides for the election results to be verified by the Chief Electoral Officer and Referenda Officer and submitted to the Chairperson of the Commission for final announcement,” she said.
“In practical terms, this means an establishment of a Central Election Result Center (CERC) at the ECN head office, where the election results shall be aggregated and consolidated to the national level before being officially announced and disseminated to the media and the nation at large.”
The elections will see 7 candidates battle for presidency, while 15 political parties will battle for the parliamentary election. Tjipueja at the media brief also confirmed that two presidential candidates filled a request for their withdrawal from the race.
