ECN targets 240 000 new voters

THE Electoral Commission of Namibia expects 240 000 new voters to register for this year’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

This was said by ECN chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro at the inauguration of the 20th City of Windhoek junior council on Monday, where he announced that the seventh presidential and National Assembly elections will be held on 27 November.

Mujoro said voters under the age of 37 constituted 45,5% of registered voters during 2014 and 2015 when the ECN registered 97% of the population of voting age during that period.

He said for this year, the ECN expects 86% of the 280 000 new voters to register.

These are people born between 1997 and 2001, who turned 18 after the last elections in 2014. The supplementary voter registration for this year’s elections will run from 8 to 27 July.

Mujoro highlighted that the ECN has included youth ambassadors in the voter and civic education staff to ensure the message and the voter education programme are packaged for young Namibians.

As part of its voter education strategy, the commission has been using social media and 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 18 to 24 year age group,” he beamed. However, he admitted that there is still a lot of work to be done 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 for all nomination processes will be 18 October. The counting of the votes will take place on 28 and 29 November, followed immediately by the announcement of the results. – Nampa

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