Voting of seagoing personnel and Namibians abroad

POLLING preparations for seagoing personnel and Namibians outside the country who will vote in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections are going according to schedule.

Polling for seagoing Namibians and citizens abroad will take place on Friday, 13th November 2009 from 07:00 to 21:00.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia would like to notify the public that this polling date is by law strictly set aside for the seagoing personnel and Namibians outside the country only.

Any other Namibian voter who does not qualify under this legal provision cannot vote on that day. The ECN would also like to remind the public that anyone found guilty of violating this law will be prosecuted.

Voting Abroad
 
Polling for Namibians outside the country (abroad/overseas) will mainly take place at the country’s foreign missions.

However, it is also worth noting that overseas voters may not necessarily enter the polling booth simultaneously at 07:00 (Namibian time) because varying geographical locations are subject to time differences. For example, we expect that Namibians in the Far Eastern nations notably China and Malaysia will be the first to enter the polling stations, as they find themselves probably several hours ahead of the rest of their fellow citizens at home and abroad.

Those in the Western Hemisphere such as the United States and South America and Caribbean may be last to vote on that same day because of our respective time differences. We are extremely satisfied that appropriate and effective training was provided last week to overseas polling officials to enhance their skills and capacity to conduct and supervise voting operations at foreign missions.

In some cases, ECN staff from head office will be dispatched for temporary deployment at some of the missions abroad to assist there.

The ECN can also report today that all sensitive and non-sensitive voting materials have been dispatched to these missions on time.

The following 24 missions have been identified as fixed polling points for voters outside Namibia:

ANGOLA
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Luanda

AUSTRIA
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Vienna

BELGIUM:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Brussels

BOTSWANA:
High Commission of the Republic of Namibia, Gaborone

BRAZIL:
Embassy of the Republic Namibia, Brasilia DF Centro de Instrução Almirante Alexandrino, Rio de Janeiro

CHINA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Beijing

CONGO (DRC):
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Kinshasa

CUBA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Havana

EGYPT:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Cairo

ETHIOPIA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Addis Ababa

FRANCE:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Paris

GERMANY:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Berlin

INDIA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, New Dehli

MALAYSIA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Kuala Lumpur

NIGERIA:
High Commission of the Republic of Namibia, Lagos

RUSSIA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Moscow

SOUTH AFRICA:
Namibia High Commissions, Pretoria and Cape Town

SWEDEN:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Stockholm

TANZANIA
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Dar-Es-Salaam

UK:
High Commission of the Republic of Namibia, London

UN:
Permanent Mission of Namibia to the UN, New York

USA:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Washington DC

ZAMBIA:
High Commission of the republic of Namibia, Lusaka

ZIMBABWE:
Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare

Seagoing personnel voting
 
Voting for seagoing personnel will take place on land at selected polling stations in Walvis Bay and Luderitz respectively.

The ballot papers and all other sensitive and non-sensitive materials have been dispatched without delay. Preparations are also around the clock to train officials who will supervise the seagoing polling.

Their training is scheduled to take place from 9th to 11th November 2009 at Luderitz and Walvis Bay respectively.

In terms of the actual polling stations for sea going voters, the following fixed points have been carefully identified and selected as the most suitable venues:

• Kuisebmund Community Hall and Kuisebmund Compound Hall have been selected in Walvis Bay while

• The German Hostel Hall has been selected for voting in Luderitz.

Accreditation of Observers
 
Currently, the ECN is aware of a limited number of local and foreign institutions that have confirmed their intentions to deploy observer teams.

Although we believe that more applications will be received as we edge closer to polling dates, the following applicants have been confirmed:

1. The Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries (ECF) will deploy a total of 25 members and they will arrive on Friday November 20, 2009 in Windhoek

2. SADC Executive Secretariat will dispatch approximately 60 observers who will arrive on Tuesday November 17, 2009 in Windhoek

3. A number of European Embassies and High Commissions have indicated that they will be represented under the auspices of the EU Observer Delegation and the full details will be provided at a later stage.

4. The Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) has indicated that it will deploy about 287 observers throughout the country, while the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) will deploy approximately 40 observers

The ECN is also expecting more applications for accreditation from other local entities notably the Namibia Council of Churches (CCN) and the Konrad Adenhauer Stifftung.

As the nation edges closer to the crucial polling exercise, the Commissioners and Director of Elections would like to urge the seagoing personnel and Namibians abroad to make use of the opportunity to exercise their rights and cast their votes.

November 13, 2009 is not only an important day for the seagoing voters and Namibian citizens abroad, but for the entire nation that is also anticipating to cast their votes on the 27th and 28th of November 2009.