ELECTORAL Commission of Namibia chairperson Notemba Tjipueja says postponing the regional and local authority elections scheduled for November would be a costly exercise and could have legal implications.
Tjipueja said the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) had not yet considered this “at this time in point”.
She was responding to suggestions by some political parties and analysts that the commission should consider postponing the elections should the coronavirus situation not improve.
Notemba, who was briefing the media on the ECN’s prepardness for the polls in Windhoek on Friday, said it would be premature for the commission to postpone the elections.
There would be “many consequences and repercussions”, she said.
“It is a very serious decision which could mean people would remain in positions for an extended period, which would require amendments of laws and so forth. As the electoral commission, we are confident that we are still able to hold elections in the present climate,” Tjipueja said.
The ECN has been allocated a budget of N$282 million for this year’s regional and local authority council elections.
On Friday, the commission said it has planned to commence with its voter education campaigns from 7 September.
Supplementary voters’ registration is scheduled for 7 July to 15 September.
The nomination of candidates is scheduled for 29 September to 16 October.
Special voting will take place on 23 November, while the polling day for everyone else is expected to take place on 25 November.
The ECN admitted some of the pre-election activities such as boundary clarification had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The civic and voters’ education campaign, initially scheduled to start in May, will be delayed by two months.
Despite these delays and the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, Tjipueja said they are ready to conduct the elections.
Despite the ECN’s position, some political parties still say the elections should be postponed if the health situation in the country does not improve, as it would be difficult to have campaign rallies and could also deter voters from going to the polls. Historically, political parties have been criticised for not doing enough in advance to adequately educate and sensitise the voters about the regional elections. This has largely contributed to the poor participation of voters in the regional and local authority council elections over the years.
According to the ECN’s post-election report in 2015, only the 1992 regional council and local authority elections recorded impressive and high voter turnouts of 82% and 81%.
All other subsequent regional and local authority elections had very low voter turnouts.
In 2015 the voter turnout was 39,8% and 36,6%. RDP leader Mike Kavekotora last week said his party was contemplating approaching president Hage Geingob’s office to submit a proposal to postpone the upcoming elections.
“It is not proper for us to have an election under the current circumstances. Elections are supposed to give a clear understanding to the voters of who will represent them,” he said.
Kavekotora’s sentiments are supported by Nudo secretary general Joseph Kauandenge, Swanu leader Tangeni Iijambo and PDM secretary general Manuel Ngaringombe.
Kauandenge said if the current trend of local transmission continues, “there is no way we can hold elections, unless we are looking for a disaster”.
The Institute for Public Policy Research director Graham Hopwood last week said given the current health situation in the country, postponement would have to considered.
He said currently, activities such as voter and civic education campaigns should be taking place, but “I don’t see any voter education taking place about the importance of registering”.
He said if the elections are postponed, the government could be compelled to amend the law to allow for the extension of terms of office for current office bearers. University of Namibia political science lecturer Rui Tyitende said if the elections are not postponed, the ECN should consider increasing the number of polling stations and extend the period of voting to avoid overcrowding at polling stations.
Tyitende said the voter turnout for this year’s elections should also not be expected to improve.
Tjipueja on Friday said the ECN and political parties have agreed to the use of manual ballot papers.
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