Voter education programme roll-out by mid-July ahead of Regional Council and Local Authority elections
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) intends to roll out a comprehensive nationwide civic and voter education programme expected to start from mid-July, ahead of the 2020 Regional Council and Local Authority elections slated for November, an official said last week.
Regional councils and local authorities form an integral part of the democratic governance system of Namibia and elections are conducted every five years.
The intended polling day for this year’s elections is 25 November.
ECN Chairperson Notemba Tjipueja at the briefing on the ECN state of preparedness of the elections said the central message for the elections would thus be to educate the electorate on voter registration and polling processes and inform all stakeholders about compliance with COVID-19 measures when participating in electoral processes.
According to Tjipueja, the Supplementary Registration of Voters (SRV) will take place from 7 to 15 September.
“The SRV is specifically aimed at registering people who qualify to be voters in local authorities but who are not so registered and who have recently turned 18 years of age,” she added.
The Provisional Voters Register (PVR) will be displayed for inspection during the period 30 September to 5 October, Tjipueja said, adding that the production and printing of the final voters’ register will take place during the period 10 to 25 October.
Meanwhile, Tjipuera said the biggest challenge the ECN faces ahead of the elections is the major public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The ECN has established a working relationship with the health ministry,” she said, adding that they provided a draft mitigation strategy document for the ministry to provide a public health risk assessment in respect of all electoral processes and the transmission risks they may involve.
