Africa-Press – Eswatini. Special voting for selected groups is today.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission’s (EBC) Communications Officer, Mbonisi Bhembe, said 1 296 inmates would participate in the special voting process, which will be held in three centres today.
While inmates will cast their votes at the respective correctional facilities where they are incarcerated, special voting will be held at Manzini Central and St Michael’s High Schools as well as Divine Healing Ministries.
These centres are expected to be bustling with activity from 7am until 5pm.
Bhembe said the voters expected to participate in the special voting for Member of Parliament (MP), indvuna yenkhundla and bucopho are electoral officials and essential service providers. These include members of the security forces, namely soldiers, police and officers from His Majesty’s Correctional Services.
In addition to these, Bhembe said Emaswati in the diaspora who registered to vote and incarcerated inmates would also be allowed to vote during the special voting process.
This is in accordance with the provision of Section 46 (5) of the Elections Act of 2013 as amended, which states that, ‘The Commission shall provide for a special voting procedure for electoral officers, staff and security personnel who are on duty on polling day.’
This provision further intends to ensure that all Emaswati exercise their right to vote and are not left behind as per the slogan, ‘Ngete Ngasala Nasakha Live Letfu.’
The commission’s mouthpiece said officials who want to participate in special voting but are not part of the EBC should apply to the commission. Those expected to vote today are encouraged to bring with them their national identity cards for identification purposes.
The rest of the nation is expected to head to the polls on Saturday.
The election of bucopho will not be finalised at the primary elections as per the Elections Act of 2013. This follows an amendment of the Act of 2013, by the Elections Act of 2023 which provides dictates that nominees under the bucopho category will know their fate in the secondary elections.
The adoption of this Act was done to eliminate dubious behaviour by those who would not win the elections. Senators had argued that in the past, the chiefdom councillors (bucopho) who had lost the elections turned into campaign agents for MP candidates. The senators said this tendency did not level the ground for contenders for the positions of MP and indvuna yenkhundla.
With the bucopho proceeding to the secondary elections which was scheduled for September, all elected candidates under the three categories will campaign.
Other amendments include one in Section 64 of the principal Elections Act, which was amended by replacing Subsection (1) with a new subsection (1), as follows; the presiding officer after examining the election material shall make arrangements for counting of votes in consultation with returning officer, ensure that the ballot papers are unfolded with their backs facing upwards and shall proceed with counting of the votes at the polling station.
This means that the votes will not be taken to one centre for counting as it was previously the case, but the counting shall proceed at the polling station. According to Bhembe, after 5pm today, votes will be counted.
Another highlight of the amendments in the Voter’s Registration Bill include that there will be no role for competent witnesses (imisumpe) in the next election year, that is 2028, which is in respect to Section 13 of the principal Act.
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