Nearly half of voters under 37 in 2014/15
Voters under the age of 37 constituted 45.5% of registered voters during 2014 and 2015, the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has announced.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 20th junior council, ECN chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro said this was recorded when the ECN registered 97% of the population of voting age during that period.
He said for the seventh Presidential and National Assembly elections on 27 November this year, the ECN expects 240 000 (86%) of the 280 000 voters to register. These will be people born between 1997 and 2001, who turned 18 years old after the last elections in 2014. The supplementary voter registration for elections is set for 8 to 27 July. Mujoro also highlighted that the ECN has included youth ambassadors in the voter and civic education staff to ensure its message and the voter education programme is packaged for young Namibians.
As part of their voter education strategy, the commission has been using social media along with other communication strategies to engage the youth. “Since the start of our education programmes, we have also seen a sharp increase in the number of followers and people requesting information from the age group between 18 and 24,” he said.
However, he admitted that there is still a lot of work that needs doing in terms of voter education in all regions.
Mujoro said preparations for the upcoming elections are at an advanced stage.
The nomination of presidential candidates and party lists for the National Assembly elections is scheduled to commence on 1 October 2019 and the last day of all nomination processes will be 18 October.
The counting of the votes will take place on 28 and 29 November, followed by the immediate announcement of the results.
NAMPA
Speaking at the inauguration of the 20th junior council, ECN chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro said this was recorded when the ECN registered 97% of the population of voting age during that period.
He said for the seventh Presidential and National Assembly elections on 27 November this year, the ECN expects 240 000 (86%) of the 280 000 voters to register. These will be people born between 1997 and 2001, who turned 18 years old after the last elections in 2014. The supplementary voter registration for elections is set for 8 to 27 July. Mujoro also highlighted that the ECN has included youth ambassadors in the voter and civic education staff to ensure its message and the voter education programme is packaged for young Namibians.
As part of their voter education strategy, the commission has been using social media along with other communication strategies to engage the youth. “Since the start of our education programmes, we have also seen a sharp increase in the number of followers and people requesting information from the age group between 18 and 24,” he said.
However, he admitted that there is still a lot of work that needs doing in terms of voter education in all regions.
Mujoro said preparations for the upcoming elections are at an advanced stage.
The nomination of presidential candidates and party lists for the National Assembly elections is scheduled to commence on 1 October 2019 and the last day of all nomination processes will be 18 October.
The counting of the votes will take place on 28 and 29 November, followed by the immediate announcement of the results.
NAMPA
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