Higher turnout than expected at Keetmanshoop polling stations

Presiding officers in the Keetmanshoop rural and urban constituencies say they are observing a higher turnout than expected.

Presiding officer at the Disability Resource Centre polling station, Clarence Andries, says people started arriving at 05h30 on Wednesday morning, ranging from the elderly to young people who wanted to cast their votes before the long queues.

“However, I do not think we will see a change going into the night as the influx of people has been steady since we started. Usually, people wait until the last minute but that is not the case today. Luckily, this time around, we have not been experiencing technical challenges with data capturing or a lack of sensitive or non-sensitive materials,” says Andries.

He says the Electoral Commission of Namibia has provided sufficient ballot papers to satisfy the voter turnout.

In the //Kharas region, more than 41 800 eligible voters were registered during the general voter’s registration. During the 2019 elections, 33 060 votes were cast out of the 53 125 registered voters, a voter turnout of 62.23%.

At this polling venue it was also observed that polling officials gave preference for vulnerable members of society to exercise their right to vote, which includes elderly, people with disabilities, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

“We have to ensure that the line keeps on moving. So, we have vulnerable persons on one side and the other eligible voters on the other side so we serve both of them equally to cast their votes with ease,” says the polling officer.