Author: HECKTON CHUWA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE National Electoral Commission (NEC) has ruled out the use of mobile polling stations in the upcoming General Election. NEC maintains that votes will only be cast at designated polling stations.
The commission’s Internal Auditor General Amos Ackim said there would be no use of mobile stations in this year’s general election, just it had been the case in previous polls.
“The Elections Act provides that votes will only be cast at designated polling stations and not anywhere else,” insisted the NEC official, while responding to questions from participants at a meeting between the Commission and election stakeholders on Thursday.
In this year’s General Election, there will be 80,155 polling stations established across the country, as per NEC’s report to serve 29,188,347 registered voters.
Mr Ackim hailed religious leaders, media practitioners, community development organisations and other stakeholders for their role in increasing the number of registered voters this year.
“You’ve done a tremendous job in sensitising the general public on updating on the voter register,” he commended.
The regional assistant commissioner of Immigration Anthony Kasitu, for his part, urged residents to notify the authority any foreigners suspected of involving themselves in election processes.
“Only Tanzanians are eligible to take part in the election. Therefore, when you find someone you think is not qualified as a Tanzanian citizen involving himself or herself in ongoing election processes report him or her immediately to the relevant security organs,” he said.
Article 39(1) of the 1977 Constitution requires candidates to be Tanzanian citizens by birth, at least 40 years old, be nominated by a political party of which they are a member, be qualified to be an MP or a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, and not have any conviction related to tax evasion.
Mr Salim Kawawa thanked NEC and the government in general for creating a conducive environment for people with all kinds of disabilities to participate effectively in the voting process this year.
