Africa-Press – Namibia.
The recent rainfall experienced in some parts of the country on elections day did not hamper the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) operations in a major way. This is according to the ECN chairperson, Elsie Nghikembua, who spoke during a recent media briefing in Windhoek.
Namibia received rainfall in some parts of the Khomas, Kavango West, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi Regions.
“The Commission has made necessary arrangements to ensure the safe keeping of election materials and continuation of polling in these areas with minimal disruption,” she said.
Other challenges include voters turning up at wrong polling stations, voters turning up with invalid voter’s cards.The ECN also received information on voters lining up at the wrong polling stations. This is despite the Commission’s efforts to educate voters about the requirements to vote within the constituency in which they are registered.
“In these cases, polling officials directed them to the correct polling locations in their respective constituencies,” said Nghikembua. Some voters could also not cast their votes as their cards were no longer valid.
All party and candidate representatives who have been assigned the responsibility to oversee the polling and counting processes, have also been urged to remain at their respective polling station to observe vote counting and announcement of results.
“This oversight is vital in ensuring the credibility and transparency of the elections. We however wish to caution that they must fulfil this role responsibly, cooperate with polling staff,” she said.
Counting has started taking place at the same polling stations in the presence of election agents of political parties, organisations, associations and candidates as required by the Electoral Act.
Election agents are required to sign the results announcement form produced by the presiding officer to attest to the counting process. This reinforces transparency, ensures immediate counting, and facilitates the announcement of preliminary election results at the polling station level.
Despite the challenges, Nghikembua noted that the ECN ensured that all voters in the queue at closing time casted their votes in strict adherence to the provisions of section 93 (3) of the Electoral Act 5 of 2014.
In total, 120 collation centres have been established in all the 120 constituencies and 59 local authorities to collate the results from various polling stations for each constituency.
Here, preliminary constituency results will be announced before being transmitted to the Central Elections Results Centre for verification, approval and final announcement. The final results for are expected to be ready today. The ECN has partnered with the with the Namibian Police Force to ensure the safety and security of the staff, the electorate, election materials and equipment after elections.
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