The voters register

It is the Director of Elections’ responsibility to ensure the provisional voters register is made available for inspection by the public and registered political parties in Namibia. This is what happened in the week of October 12 to 16 2009 when the register for each constituency was made available in all 107 constituencies, while the parties were given copies of the whole register. The period for objections to be raised about the register ended on October 19. A designated magistrate considers any objections to names on the register and informs the Director of Elections whether any changes should be made. Following the hearing of objections and any appeals, the Director certifies the voters register. This final list must also be made available for inspection by the public and political parties ahead of an election. Thereafter, the register must also be available for inspection at the offices of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
The Ministry of Home Affairs, as the registrar of deaths in Namibia, is supposed to transmit a list of deaths on a monthly basis to the ECN. These names should then be taken off the register. Although the ECN must make every effort to remove errors from the register, the register will not become invalid even if it still includes mistakes and false information.
The law does not require that the voters register is made available at polling stations for voters to be checked off once they vote. Instead, Namibia uses the method of marking a voter’s finger with ink to ensure they do not vote twice. This method has been criticised in the past for being open to abuse. However, it seems unlikely that the voters register will be used as a control measure at this election.
The voters register is created every ten years through a general registration drive. Supplementary and continuous registration periods after general registration allow new voters to join the register and existing voters to change their details, such as addresses. A voters register should be scrupulously and timeously maintained and updated by an electoral management body. The evidence available in Namibia would suggest that this has not been the case and that many errors have crept on to the list over time. The current voters register will also be used for the local and regional elections in 2010. A new register is only due to be drawn up in 2013.