Register where you live – ECN

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) says people can register to vote where they stay for work purposes.

This was said by ECN director of operations Zenia Klazen during a visit to State House on Tuesday aimed at addressing urgent questions on the voters’ registration process.

This follows complaints that some voters were not allowed to register at registration points that are not at their home constituencies.

“Our voters’ register is compiled on a constituency basis. If they are here (Windhoek) and they only want to register for presidential and National Assembly elections, they are resident here because they are working here, they are only going home at intervals of holidays or once a year. It’s still the choice of the voter where they want to register,” Klazen noted.

Klazen said it is a legal requirement for citizens to register in the constituency they reside in to ensure the voters’ register is compiled accurately on a constituency basis.

She noted that this reflects where individuals live and participate in local governance.

“Come next year, if they want to vote where they originate from, they have to be registered there. If they want to go and vote in Kuisebmond at Walvis Bay, then they should make sure to go there and register,” she said.

A voter who prefers to remain anonymous told The Namibian yesterday he was not allowed to register at Van Rhyn Primary School on Wednesday because he is not a resident of the Windhoek West constituency.

“It’s complicated, at some points you are allowed, at others you are not,” he said.

Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) spokesperson Moses Shikerete said voters should not be limited to their areas of origin, and the fact that their vote counts in improving conditions in those areas must be acknowledged.

Shikerete further said voters who want to register in their constituencies can register next year to participate in elections slated for 2025 in their respective regions of origin.

“Most of our people who live in areas that are not of their origin stand to benefit from the services provided for by elected leaders in such constituencies, hence it’s just fair that they participate in the regional and local authority elections in those areas,” he said.

According to Shikerete, the residents of Windhoek cannot opt not to vote for their leaders yet demand services from the City of Windhoek or constituencies within Windhoek.

Independent Patriots for Change spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge said the process should be made flexible.

“We already have voter apathy issues. We cannot afford to have some unnecessary technicalities that complicate the registration process,” he said.