CIP Mozambique Elections: Clandestine card printing, continued delays

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CIP Mozambique Elections: Clandestine card printing, continued delays

7:38 CAT | 02 May 2023

For illustration purposes only. [Screen grab: CIP Eleições on Facebook]

Mozambique Elections, 28 April 2023

Printing voter cards in the dead of night in Guruè

About ten brigade members were caught red-handed last night (27 April) in the STAE warehouse in Gurué, Zambézia, where they were clandestinely printing voter cards.

Our correspondents have confirmed this information and the videos recorded by the second deputy director of the district STAE, appointed by Renamo.

According to our correspondents in Guruè, at about 12.00 there were breakdowns of the printers, but the brigade members asked the voters to continue registering, telling them that they could pick up their cards the following day. But the supervisors took the machines to the STAE warehouse, and it was there that they printed the voter cards.

Yesterday (27 April) at around 20.00 a Renamo member passed by STAE and found the door half-open. He informed the second deputy director of the district STAE, Domingos Baessa, named by Renamo. Baessa went to the warehouse and found a team of STAE brigade members, led by the first deputy chairperson of the District Elections Commission, named by Frelimo, printing voter cards, in the absence of the STAE deputy directors and department heads.

What concerns Renamo is that the Elections Operations Department of STAE was not informed that in the middle of the night voter cards would be printed in the STAE warehouse. According to Baessa, this is something that was already known about, but which the STAE leadership always denied.

When questioned by the district police commander, Renato Luís Martinho, and by the STAE district director, the local managers of the electoral administration bodies, and the brigade members, replied that the cards being printed were those of voters who registered during the day. The cards could not be printed during the day, because the printers broke down.

The printing of the cards began at 19.00, three hours after the registration posts closed. Nobody was detained.

This morning (28 April), the district police commander, the director of SISE, the STAE district director and the two deputy directors visited various registration posts to ask the monitors whether or not they were aware that people were registering in the STAE warehouse or not. The idea, according to Baessa, is to produce information that would incriminate him.

“They want to incriminate me, because they accuse me of having announced that there were voters at night in the warehouse. I didn’t say that. I said that cards were being printed. They are not trying to investigate the irregularities evident in the video. They are just looking for material to incriminate me”, denounced Baessa.

“More Integrity” observers and CNE sign memorandum to share electoral information

The National Elections Commission (CNE) and the “More integrity” observer consortium, led by CIP, on Wednesday (26 Apr) signed a memorandum of understanding to share information on the 2023 and 2024 elections. The signing was by CNE chair Bishop Carlos Matsinhe and the coordinator of the consortium, Edson Cortez (below).

At the ceremony, Matsinhe explained that the partnership “will help promote integrity in the Mozambican elections” – notably municipal elections this year and general elections in 2024. With the memorandum, “More Integrity has the right of access to information that may be of its interest, but also has the duty to support the electoral bodies in ensuring that the elections are credible”.

The representative of the consortium thanked the openness shown by the leadership of the CNE in accepting the partnership and promised full collaboration “in support of the transparency and integrity of the process”. Edson Cortez said that “the objective of the consortium is to guarantee that the elections are a moment of festivity, and that no episodes of conflict and tensions are recorded.”

Registration blocked of 20 citizens from outside the Morrumbala municipal area

In Morrumbala, Zambézia, on 25 April, Renamo prevented about 20 citizens from registering in the municipal area, at the post in the Fraqueza EPC, in Morrumbala town. The group arrived at the registration post in a minibus, accompanied by Tomás Sofrino Razão (secretary of the local OJM, the Frelimo youth movement) and João Joaquim Sandramo (head of the general education department in the local education directorate). They are all natives of Maputo, Beira and Quelimane.

When Renamo was informed of the attempted fraud, it immediately went to investigate the situation. When questioned, the group was unable to explain itself. This led to chaotic scenes which obliged the group, fearing the worst, to abandon the place in disorder. The CIP correspondent reports that no blows were exchanged.

At the Djuba EPC, Matola-Rio, Maputo province, voters are being registered without documentation. The brigade members use any unknown citizen as a witness.

In Beira, in Sofala, the MDM is accusing the supervisors of registering voters from outside the municipal area and of collecting identity cards from voters who are members of Frelimo, to facilitate the registration of people living outside the municipal area, as a way of manipulating the process.

Voters abandon registration because of slowness

Our correspondents are reporting cases of citizens who abandon the voter registration, because of the slowness in attending to them. The constant equipment breakdowns and the slowness of the brigade members, because they are not familiar with handling the machines, are the main causes.

Since the start of the registration nine days ago, our correspondents spread across all 62 districts, plus Maputo city, have been reporting situations of voters who give up waiting. In some cases, the voters needed two or three days before they managed to register, due to problems of machine breakdowns or slowness of the brigades.

In some cases, the voters seek alternative registration posts, more distant from their homes. In many posts, the breakdowns began on the first day of the registration and up until today the problems have not yet been overcome. This means that the brigades are operating at well below what is expected.

All day waits due to printer failures

In Manica, there are cases where the voters arrive at 05.00 in the morning at the queues in the registration post, and wait all day. The post ends up closing without any registration. The brigade members distribute numbered tickets to these voters so that they can return the following day.

In Maputo city, at the 7 April Primary School, in the Polana Caniço B neighbourhood, the potential voters wake up at 03.00 to mark their places in the queues, waiting for 08.00 when the registration post opens.

In the Ferroviário neighbourhood, in Maputo City, the voter cards have not been printed since Monday.

The same thing is happening at the Josina Machel EPC, in Matola-Rio, where the printer has not been printing since Monday. The technical staff of the consortium that won the tender for the business, have still not appeared. They allege that there are many posts where their assistance is needed.

Wednesday (26 April), at the primary school in the Chibuto 3rd neighbourhood, some voters arrived at 04.00, and by 15.00 the brigade had still not attended to them.

In Zavala, in Quissico district, there are three citizens who were unable to register, because the machine rejected them. Several attempts were made but up to today they have been unable to register.

In Zambézia, in the Mangulamelo secondary school, there is nobody at the registration post because there is no electricity.

Also in Zambézia, in the Balala Secondary School, in the Namaja EPC and in the Mareço EPC, voters are abandoning the registration posts because of the breakdowns.

In Monapo, Nampula province, in some posts the voters stay overnight in the queues so that they can register the following day.

In Angoche, cards have not been printed for two days. Would-be voters are registered, but they have not begun to receive their cards. The brigade is not issuing cards, because they emerge with stains.

In Mandimba, in Niassa province, at the Ngame EPC, people are tired of going to the queues every day, and still being unable to register.

In Balama, in Cabo Delgado, at the registration post in the Mpaka village, photos of voters are taken to be printed on the card the following day, because the brigade members do not yet have the skills to carry out all the operations perfectly.

In Mocímboa da Praia, in Cabo Delgado, the two machines at the 3rd Congress EPC broke down. By 12.00 they had not yet been repaired.

Renamo in Nacala, Nampula province, yesterday (27 April) called the press to denounce irregularities related with the existence of voter cards without the signature of the bearer, without fingerprints, in addition to the rejection of elderly voters during the registration.

Source: Centro de Integridade Pública - CIP