These are some of the most frequent questions Election Watch has received about the November 27 elections. The answers are provided by Election Watch in consultation with the Electoral Commission of Namibia
What am I voting for in the upcoming election?
At the elections taking place on November 27 2015 registered voters will elect their local authority and regional council representatives.
When Namibians took to the polls last year to cast their votes for the National Assembly and Presidential elections, they set a precedent on the continent by being the first Africans to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
This voting technology was introduced primarily to enhance the election process and to reduce the amount of time it takes to count and verify the results – an important consideration given the delays in the announcement of results in past elections.
This week the President, in a Government Gazette, is expected to confirm the date for the 2015 Local Authority and Regional Council elections. However, the 2013 Delimitation Report, which made a number of key boundary changes that fundamentally affect these elections, has never been released to the public.
With the election scheduled for the 28th of November 2014, the Electoral Commission of Namibia has confirmed the number of registered voters expected to participate during the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Majority of people registered are young people between the ages of 18-32 (45.50%). After the supplementary registrations of voters which took place from the 8-20 September 2014, the amount of registered voters stood at 1,277,578 of which 36,384 were removed because they were duplications or had died. This brought the amount of registered voters to 1,241,194.
Swapo continues to dominate the political scene in Namibia, with strong levels of public trust and voter preference, but public tolerance of opposition parties may also be on the increase, according to the latest Afrobarometer survey.
Opposition parties continue to survive and scramble for the minor places, with the DTA and the Rally for Democracy and Progress in a close race for a distant second place behind Swapo.
From this Tuesday the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) will start releasing findings from the latest Afrobarometer public opinion survey. In August 2014 some 1,200 people countrywide were interviewed about their views on a range of political, economic and social matters including governance issues and their experiences of poverty and various hardships. The questions covered levels of trust in various Namibian leaders and institutions. Also included in the survey is an opinion poll about citizen's voting intentions.
The election date was proclaimed in Government Gazette No. 5587 of October 13 2014 as being Friday November 28 2014. In the Gazette (see attached) President Hifikepunye Pohamba said he had “determined Friday, 28 November 2014 as the date upon which a poll shall take place, from the hours 07h00 to 21h00, for the election of a President as well as for the election of members of the National Assembly.”
The polling day at various Namibian missions abroad will be November 14 from 07h00 to 21h00 hours while voting sea-going personnel will also vote on November 14.
Namibia's Electoral Bill, which has been passed by Parliament, is likely to become a fully-fledged law after October 13 this year - just a few weeks before the national election scheduled for November 28. The election date is due to be confirmed in the Government Gazette on Monday October 13 in terms of the old 1992 Electoral Act. After the date has been confirmed it is expected that the new Electoral Act will come into force and the 1992 Act will be formally repealed.
The ECN has completed the Provisional Voters Register after the Supplementary Registration period of September 8-20 2014. The register is on display from October 1-3 2014 at designated offices countrywide. The picture shows the National Register on display at the ECN Head Office. The points at which the register can be viewed are listed in the attachment.
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is carrying out a General Registration of Voters (GRV) in the run-up to the 2014 National Assembly and Presidential elections to be held towards the end of the year. The voter registration period, which started on January 15th, will run until March 2nd 2014.
Based on the 2011 population census approximately 1.3 million Namibian citizens are 18 years of age or older and will therefore be eligible to vote in the 2014 elections. The current voter registration process is governed by the Electoral Act of 1992.
