Parties, ECN to plot upcoming polls

JANA-MARI SMITHWINDHOEK Political parties will sit down today with Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) officials to discuss the way forward for the 2020 regional council and local authority elections This will help formulate a roadmap for the polls amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.ECN chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro confirmed the meeting.He said the ECN is currently consulting election stakeholders on a coronavirus mitigation strategy.“Our stakeholders at this point include registered political parties, associations, organisations and, most importantly, the health ministry,” he said last week.Mujoro said the ECN expects the first level of consultations to be concluded by the end of this week. The commission will then be able to provide more detailed information regarding the 2020 elections, slated to take place towards the end of the year. New normalPolitical commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah said the discussions need to take into account the “new normal way of doing things due to Covid-19”.He warned the pandemic and the implemented health and safety regulations could have “serious implications for the upcoming elections and our democracy in general”.Kamwanyah underlined that all stakeholders working towards the election strategy “must cautiously weigh our country and the electoral body's ability to hold the election while balancing the health of citizens and the credibility of the ballot process”. Voter educationNudo secretary-general Joseph Kauandenge said the party's priority at the stakeholder discussions is to hear in what way the ECN is ready to “prepare the country for elections during the state of emergency”.Kauandenge said the ECN should also be able to clarify how voter education will be undertaken and should also allow sufficient time for supplementary voter registration.He said the health ministry's input will be vital to determine the safety of voters.Kauandenge also warned that should the pandemic require a return to a stage one lockdown, there is a likelihood the elections will have to be postponed. Paper trailA brief statement issued by the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) said efforts should be made to allow political parties the freedom to engage with voters on a large scale ahead of the polls, and that the electorate's rights should be observed during pre-election voter mobilisation efforts.Kamwanyah said the use of paper ballots for the upcoming elections will ensure “some certainty and control to the process, rather than using electrical voting machines (EVMs) without a paper trail”.The PDM stressed they will push for the implementation of a verifiable paper trail for the upcoming elections.“We believe the ECN has had enough time to purchase the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) after the Supreme Court ruled that elections without a VVPAT contradict the Electoral Act.”Mujoro could not comment whether EVMs with a VVPAT will be used.

Parties, ECN to plot upcoming polls

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-15

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Parties, ECN to plot upcoming polls

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-15

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