Electoral Commission of Namibia

The Electoral Act, passed in 1992, governs Namibia’s elections. The Act has been amended eight times since then and it is expected to be amended again this year. The Electoral Act as amended can be downloaded from the Key Documents section of this website.
The Act provides for:
• The election of Namibia’s President
• The election of members of the National Assembly, regional councils and local authority councils
• The establishment of the Electoral Commission and its powers, duties and functions
• The registration of voters and political parties
• The conduct of elections
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is established as the exclusive authority to direct, supervise and control in a fair and impartial manner elections in Namibia.
In particular, the ECN has to:
* Supervise and control the registration of voters
* Supervise the preparing, publication and maintenance of a national voters' register and local authority voters' register
* Supervise and control the registration of political parties
* Supervise, direct and control the conduct of elections
The next edition of Election Watch will look at how the Electoral Commission of Namibia is selected and how the Director of Elections is appointed.