Mozambique: Voter roll being tampered with, Renamo claims – AIM

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Mozambique: Voter roll being tampered with, Renamo claims – AIM

9:45 CAT | 03 Oct 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Renamo Morrumbala/Facebook]

Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has claimed that the voter roll for the municipal elections due on 11 October is being tampered with, by removing the names of Renamo members.

According to the bulletin on the municipal elections issued by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), Renamo obtained a copy of the voter roll for the municipality of Morrumbala, in Zambezia province, and found that 120 names of Renamo members had been removed, and replaced by 120 other names.

READ: CIP Mozambique Elections: Renamo names taken off electoral roll

When he protested against this tampering, Artur Singano Lampaio, a Renamo representative in the Morrumbala neighbourhood of Majoao, was arrested on Friday.

The police accused him of mobilizing Renamo members to verify their registration after the official date for checking the voter roll had passed. As of Monday morning, he was still detained.

People whose names are not on the voter roll may find that they are unable to vote on 11 October, even if they possess a voter card.

At the polling stations, staff are supposed to check the cards of voters against the roll. If someone is on the roll, but has lost his or her card, they may be able to confirm their identity by other means.

But it will prove altogether more difficult for someone whose name is not on the roll to secure his or her right to vote. The Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) says that anyone with a voter card can vote, even if their name is not on the roll. But it may prove difficult to enforce this ruling at the polling stations.

Source: AIM