Renamo demands external audit of voter registration

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Renamo demands external audit of voter registration

10:15 CAT | 18 Jul 2019

File photo: Noticias ao Minuto

Voter registration for the October 15 elections in Mozambique ran from 15 to 30 May and allowed 5.9 million of a forecast 7.3 million voters to register, according to STAE data, but the process was hampered by faults in the recording machines, lack of electricity and lack of printer cartridges, among other constraints and irregularities.

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the country’s main opposition party, is therefore demanding an independent external audit of the process, the party’s representative said on Monday.

“This week we are going to submit a letter to the Attorney General’s Office demanding an independent external audit of the entire voter registration process,” Venancio Mondlane told a press conference.

At stake are the more than one million Mozambican voters who, for a variety of reasons, were omitted from the process.

“The problem is not just Gaza. We maintain that, basically, 1.5 million people failed to be registered to vote, and this is a violation of the law, a violation of a fundamental right,” Mondlane added.

Renamo filed a criminal complaint with the PGR against election officials for allegedly tampering with the voter registration in Gaza province, he said, and would send another letter to the National Elections Commission (CNE) “giving the CNE itself an opportunity to retract” and “carry out an internal audit to see what happened”.

Venâncio Mondlane has vowed to wage a national and international legal battle with institutions linked to electoral matters.

“There is a specialised electoral council in the African Union for such conflicts. We will approach all national and international alternatives,” he said.

The legislative elections of October 15 will run concurrently with presidential and provincial assemblies, and will for the first time elect provincial governors, instead of them being appointed by the president as at present.

These will be the sixth elections in Mozambique’s history since the introduction of a multiparty constitution in 1990.

Source: AIM