Ballot shortages at some polling stations, long queues and delays at some polling stations marred the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s (ECN) special voting exercise yesterday.
ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua yesterday said the number of Namibian Police officers and Namibian Defence Force members who turned out to vote was higher than expected.
This created a shortage of ballot papers at some polling stations, she said.
Nghikembua said the ECN catered for 8 000 voters, but by 15h00 yesterday, over 7 100 cast their votes.
“We received a specific number from the security cluster … but this morning, there were a lot more people than that. If they had changed to allow everybody to come and vote, they did not communicate it,” she said.
Nghikembua said despite this, the process went smoothly overall.
The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs did not allow voting at its bases.
“The ministry does not want that . . . the reasons we do not know. They just felt that you can be in close proximity to the army base, but not within the army base.
“Procedurally, it is not correct, because they are gazetted, and, therefore, these are the only venues we are allowed to use as polling stations,” Nghikembua said.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah yesterday said the ECN’s special voting planning could have been better.
“The long lines and shortage of ballot papers show a lack of preparation, especially since high voter turnout is often expected in special elections,” he said.
“Better planning, such as providing more polling stations and having enough ballot papers would have made it easier for people to vote smoothly,” he added.
Landless Peoples’ Movement (LPM) spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa yesterday said the ECN may have underestimated the turnout.
The spokesperson was also concerned about the commission failing to upload foreign missions’ results.
“Additionally, the results we see on social media accounts from the general public and newspapers are the first to break the news, with the ECN failing to update any of its social media platforms or website,” Simataa said.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) general secretary Christine !Aochamus yesterday said the party’s agents deployed across the country and at some foreign missions reported no major issues.
Affirmative Repositioning (AR) national spokesperson George Kambala said the movement would monitor the situation closely, holding the ECN accountable for any mismanagement.
“While we continue to push for accountability from the ECN, we also call on all Namibians to remain calm and patient during this challenging time. We understand that it’s frustrating, but we urge you not to let these setbacks discourage you,” he said.
Kambala said resilience should be key in overcoming challenging times.
“Let us not lose sight of the ultimate goal – a better future for our children, our communities and our nation,” he said.
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) secretary general Manuel Ngaringombe yesterday said the long queues show people are eager to vote.
“The process is very slow. At Osona military base, the process stopped for some time as ballot papers ran out. I did not receive other complaints. My main issue is that the National Assembly candidates are not yet in the gazette,” he said.
Although voting started on time at Walvis Bay yesterday, party representatives were displeased that the process was delayed by some fishing companies which failed to submit lists of their employees’ names as requested.
ECN officials struggled to determine whether prospective voters were indeed fishermen, and which companies they belonged to.
“It was a bit slow at the beginning, because presiding officers had to go through all the papers from the fishing companies. Some of the companies sent names without identity numbers,” IPC observer Naeman Shikongo said.
Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) observer Jacob Seizer described the process as smooth, but hoped some fishermen would remember where they worked.
PDM representative Angelina Lanter said: “The process was quite slow. The people were many and needed to be helped faster.”
Swapo agent Margreth Sem said the queues were long at first because some companies neglected to provide their employees’ details.
“The men in uniform came wearing their uniforms. I also suggest that they have three stations in one hall next time. A few people were sent home because their names did not appear on their company list,” she said.
Presiding officer Ernstine Shindimba yesterday said there were no challenges.
“The venue is packed. We know it is not that easy, but we try our best,” she said.
Penehafo Haikela, another presiding officer, said voters were generally satisfied with the process and happy they could finally cast their votes.
Windhoek voter Hangula Damaseb said there was a need for more polling stations.
“This morning, the crowd was large, and we’ve been here for over an hour without even starting to vote, all because there was only one polling station,” he said.
Zambezi regional electoral officer Lesley Simwanza said their only challenge was running out of the substance used to clean voters’ thumbs before they are marked.
More ink had to be requested from Rundu, he said.
Simwanza said they had to drive halfway to Rundu to meet their colleagues to obtain this.
“However, seeing that it would take about a few hours, we thought of the alternative to reuse the cloths that were previously used to clean voters’ thumbs to get the process going. We consulted party observers, and they had no issues with the suggestion,” he said.
Electoral officer Jejamaije Mujoro yesterday said special voting at Keetmanshoop’s WK Rover Hall got off to a smooth start.
Voting took place at the !Nami ≠Nûs, Oranjemund, and Keetmanshoop Urban polling stations.
“All logistical arrangements for venues, polling officers, ballot papers and other sensitive materials were put in place on Tuesday . . ,” Mujoro said.
All three polling stations, however, experienced data loading challenges within the first 15 minutes of opening.
!Nami ≠Nûs returning officer Ignatius Awasman said the challenge was due to an unstable internet connection.
“. . . but it did not cause major delays. Everything ran smoothly from there,” he said.
By lunchtime more than 279 eligible special voters cast their vote.
Returning officer for Oranjemund Flory Dawids yesterday said cooperation among stakeholders was outstanding.
“The data loading was a challenge for the first voter, however, our technicians stepped in and solved the problem,” she said.
Over 190 eligible voters cast their vote at Oranjemund by lunchtime.
LPM party agent at Oranjemund Steffany Hanse said the party was satisfied with the process.
“The venue opened on time, challenges were resolved speedily, nobody was turned away from voting, and the handling of ballot papers and other sensitive materials was done in a transparent manner,” she said.
Keetmanshoop Urban returning officer Rosalin Keramin said more eligible voters than expected turned up for voting.
At WK Rover Hall eligible voters could be seen lining up as from 06h00.
“We had the Namibian Defence Force from the Keetmanshoop army base and the Karasburg base that came to vote here. They came by bus and were more than in the 2019 elections,” Keramin said.
She denied reports that the polling station had to source additional ballot papers from a nearby polling venue.
“We had sufficient ballot papers and did not source from anywhere else,” she said.
//Kharas coordinator for Swapo Matthew Mumbala said, though the process went smoothly, reports of a shortage of ballot papers were received.
“But they were sourced and the process is continuing,” he said.
He said Swapo was satisfied with the process.
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