National Election Commission to conduct pilot voter registration

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National Election Commission to conduct pilot voter registration

8:05 CAT | 14 Aug 2017

Voa (File photo) / Felisberto Naife, Felisberto Naife, director general of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE)

The voter registration process scheduled for March 1 to April 29 next year will be preceded by a pilot electoral census later this year aimed, in part, at testing equipment used in the past and decide whether to use it next year, the National Elections Commission (CNE) said in Maputo on Thursday (August 10).

Felisberto Naife, director general of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), the entity which executes the deliberations of CNE, did not explain in detail what the pilot census will look like.

Speaking at a “round table” organised by the CNE to discuss the involvement of the media in publicising the electoral process as a means to keep the citizen constantly informed, Naife said that the pilot voter registration would also test technicians’ abilities.

The briefing updated the media on the progress and preparations for the fifth municipal elections scheduled for October 10, 2018. It is believed that the so-called “fourth estate” can contribute substantially to the informing of individuals, as well as influencing them to exercise their citizenship rights.

According to Abdul Carimo, the president of the country’s electoral management body, the media is an ideal vehicle to keep citizens abreast of what is happening in relation to the 2017-18 electoral cycle. “We are not going to give any lessons [to journalists], but we would like to create a joint platform between the media and the managers of the electoral process,” Carimo said, adding that nobody wants to witness a conflicted election process when it aims to be transparent.

Carimo also appealed to civil society and other stakeholders to boost their presence with a view to the success of local elections.

The fifth municipal elections will take place in the 53 municipalities of the country and are budgeted at 970 million meticais, of which CNE has 750 million meticais already available. The balance will be made available in kind.

A study by the Pan African research network Afrobarometer found that fewer and fewer Mozambicans believe elections are free, fair and transparent. “Popular support for democracy and satisfaction with its implementation have dropped alarmingly,” the report says.

Source: A Verdade