Voters’ Nightmare

Thousands brace scorching heat in the name of democracy

Some political parties have expressed anger after the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) experienced sporadic cases of ballot paper shortages across the country during the voting period yesterday.

A number of polling stations experienced a shortage of ballot papers from midday yesterday, leaving hundreds of voters frustrated. In some areas, the ECN failed to open polling stations until late yesterday.

Just over 1.4 million Namibians registered to participate in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Kalimbo Iipumbu said they might burn down ECN offices.

“We are frustrated. We are hearing that ballot papers are finished in some parts of the Zambezi, the Kavangos, Otjozondjupa, Kunene and Khomas regions. We have been talking about the readiness of the ECN and how are we going to call these elections free and credible when many people are up in arms without ballot papers?” Iipumbu said.

According to him, people are ready to participate in the elections, but there are no ballot papers.

“There is a process of undermining this country,” Iipumbu said.

He says if the ECN was not ready to conduct the elections, it should have asked for a postponement.

“What a mockery of our democracy is this? Imagine, apparently we have printed about 1.6 million ballot papers, but where are these ballot papers? Does it mean some ballot papers are earmarked for a certain political party?” he asked.

“We can’t go on like this man! If need be, we need to burn down that ECN. This is Namibia and [we] cannot tolerate that nonsense.”

ECN head Peter Shaama and spokesperson Siluka Mulauli did not respond to numerous calls to their mobile phones yesterday.

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) secretary general Manual Ngaringombe yesterday told The Namibian that the elction process has been marred by irregularities.

The secretary general said they picked up trouble with the verification process as some voters were not picked up on the system. Opposition parties on Tuesday cautioned that this will be an issue.

“Voters wait in the queue, but when they get to the verification, they are told the system is not picking them up,” he said.

When the system does not pick up a voter but they have a voter’s card, the presiding officer needs to fill in a form to reflect this.

“We have to fight for the Erongo, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa and Hardap regions where you have to fight to get those forms which are at the ECN regional offices,” he said.

Ngaringombe believes Namibians would vote throughout the night with these issues as well as the ballot paper shortages.

“People might vote throughout the night till tomorrow (Thursday) morning, because up to now, the queues are very long. “But we hope that the ECN will manage the situation and will be coordinating and the media should be doing their job to vote,” he said

Independent Patriots for Change general secretary Christine !Aochamus told The Namibian they are worried about how the elctions had been handled by the ECN, citing the shortages and slow verification machines.

“Why does it take two or three hours to transport ballot papers to Elisenheim and Finckenstein? Where are they being taken from,” she questioned.

According to !Aochamus, it seems as if the ill preparation of the ECN is a deliberate move to distract and frustrate voters.

“It does make sense. . . Where are the extra ballots? Is it deliberate to frustrate voters to leave the queue?” she asked.

They have received reports of ballot shortages from Khorixas, Gobabis and the Khomas region

“We are definitely supporting the notion that this is deliberate,” she said.

She said the ballot papers being transported are not escorted by party agents.

“We are really concerned about this election.”

Swapo Party Youth League secretary Ephraim Nekongo said his party agents reported that some polling stations in the Omaheke region ran out of ballot papers.

He urged voters to be calm and listen to ECN officials in terms of what is to happen.

Speaking to The Namibian at around 19h05, Nekongo said the polling stations without ballot papers were expected to be provided with ballot papers from Windhoek or nearby polling stations.

“The ECN for sure will deliver the elections as it ought to be,” Nekongo said.

PDM spokesperson Geofrey Mwilima said his party was not aware of insufficient ballot papers in some parts of the country.

‘POOR PLANNING’

Institute for Public Policy Research researcher Frederico Links expressed concerns about the challenges faced during the elections.

“It just seems like there’s been a lack of proper planning and a lack of proper allocation of resources to anticipate a potentially large voter turnout,” Links said while waiting in line to vote at Swakopmund.

He said there are frustration and discouragement among voters due to the long queues and delays.

“People in front of me and behind me are saying this feels like voter suppression. We’ve seen people leave the queue and go home because it’s taken so long. If that’s the case, then it could qualify as voter suppression,” he said.

Links warned that the delays could compromise the election process, noting that many polling stations might still have long lines well past the 09h00 closing time.

“There will still be long queues, and I’m not sure how they plan to handle that,” he said.

Landless People’s Movement youth leader Duminga Ndala said the ECN did not plan properly.

“I think the ECN was not prepared. There are a lot of hiccups along the way. The voters are frustrated and it’s understandable,” Ndala said.

She, however, said it is motivating to see that many Namibians remained in the queue despite the challenges.

“People have come out in their numbers, especially young people, to cast their votes and renew their mandate,” Ndala said.

Swapo Party Youth League spokesperson Moses Shikerete said they are satisfied with the process so far.

“The voter turnout is satisfactory, however, at some polling stations we are worried with the turnout. We hope the numbers improve as the day goes,” he said.

Political analyst Johan Coetzee acknowledged the logistical challenges but struck a more optimistic tone regarding voter enthusiasm.

“I have heard about long queues in the Khomas region and some places at Swakopmund. In some of these queues, voters have waited for eight hours. Some mobile stations closed at 13h00 and voters then flocked to other stations, waiting for longer than eight hours in total,” Coetzee said.Despite these difficulties, Coetzee emphasises the positive aspect of high voter engagement.

“People are eager to vote, and that is very positive, as if it is a first election,” he said.

ACCESS TO DEMOCRACY

Presiding officer at Tinkerbell polling station in the //Karas region, Sheedine Boostander, said the team prepared to serve vulnerable groups.

“We are giving preference for the elders, people with disabilities, pregnant women and nursing mothers to vote first. We have a separate queue for them and we are able to serve both groups. Secondly, we have provided chairs for the elderly and those using walking prams and crutches,” says Boostander.

Young people at Keetmanshoop say they want their votes to translate into hunger and unemployment being eradicated and the education system overhauled.

Faith Mugunda(19) said hunger has beset many households in the community and it has become a common occurrence, while young people are buckling under the scourge of unemployment.

SATISFIED

Walvis Bay rural constituency returning officer Latasha Koch on Tuesday said she was satisfied with the voting process.

She said all polling stations she visited were crowded, with special provision for the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women.

“I saw a lot of elderly, especially at Narraville. They finished early. I did not see many people with disabilities. I did not experience a case where these groups were blocked at any station,” she said.

Eeden Gowases, responsible for Walvis Bay Urban constituency, said access to polling stations was easy at her constituency.

“All our stations have toilet facilities and it was not a problem. The machines froze for a few moments, but there were no long delays. We had our forms here that were completed manually for a few minutes. Nothing was stopped,” she said.

At Fanuel Shingenge Primary School in the Omusati region, voters were still sitting under trees without having cast their votes when The Namibian arrived at 14h45. This primary school serves as a mobile polling station, and the voters were waiting for election officials from another polling station.

“I arrived here at 11h00, because they announced on the radio that they would arrive at 14h00. We are worried that they won’t be able to attend to all of us by 21h00,” said Laina Andreas.

When the ECN vehicles arrived around 16h38, many people appeared relieved.

“I did not want to go home without voting for my party and candidate,” said Juliana Elago.