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News and Information
NSHR claims illegal voter registrations
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CHRISTOF MALETSKY
A ROW has erupted between the Electoral Commission of Namibia and the National Society for Human Rights with allegations of intimidation, harassment and illegal voter registration at the centre of the dispute.
The NSHR said the recent supplementary voter registration was marred by people registering without valid documents, foreigners getting the right to vote and some prospective voters intimidated.
The human rights body sent monitors to some registration points in the Caprivi, Kavango, Khomas, Oshana and Hardap regions and declared that "the upcoming elections might not be regarded as both free and fair due to the said irregularities."
It called on the ECN to investigate the irregularities.
"NSHR has at its disposal legally actionable evidence in case there are ...
concerned parties wishing to take this matter further," said its Director Phil ya Nangoloh.
The allegations provoked a fierce response from the Electoral Commission of Namibia.
The Director of Elections, Phillemon Kanime, labelled the allegations as "superficial" and claimed that the NSHR monitors had tried to register non-Namibians to participate in the upcoming elections in the Caprivi Region.
"Besides having granted your institution observer accreditation status, ECN is also willing to receive an application for registration as a political party to be able to reconcile some of your activities that kept us astray on the nature of your actual roles and responsibilities," said Kanime in a statement to the media.
He said the central battleground for political parties was the ballot box and urged the NSHR to enter the fray. |
Source: Namibian.com.na |
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