Hertta-maria Amutenja, Martin Endjala, Allexer Namundjembo
The 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections were overshadowed by logistical issues, including ballot paper shortages and operational delays at various polling stations.
Polling stations such as Omeya Golf Estate, Mix Settlement, Finkenstein, Brakwater Shopping Centre, and Centaurus High School in the Khomas Region, as well as Omudaungilo Constituency in the Ohangwena Region, reported running out of ballot papers by 15h00.
These challenges have frustrated voters and prompted calls for urgent action from political stakeholders and civil society.
The Independent Patriots for Change’s (IPC) leader, Panduleni Itula, has accused the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) of failing to address the matter.
“Only about 90 minutes are remaining before the close of the voting stations and hitherto, despite various requests, you failed to rescue the situation,” he said through his legal representative, Dirk Conradie of Conradie Incorporated.
The party has since threatened legal action against the ECN’s chairperson, Elsie Nghikembua.
“Kindly be advised that your wrongful and unlawful actions deny registered voters their constitutional right to vote, and you are notified of our client’s intention to take appropriate legal action in a competent forum for appropriate relief, as well as a punitive cost order against you,” he said.
In response to the logistical challenges, the representative of the Landless People’s Movement, Ivan Skrywer proposed extending the elections to today until 14h00.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Skrywer called on the ECN to request an extension from President Nangolo Mbumba, citing the ballot paper shortages and long queues as threats to democracy.
Walvis Bay Business Chamber chairperson and businessman, Johnny Doeseb echoed these sentiments on social media.
“ECN is a total failure logistically. The president must come through with a presidential order to extend the voting process till tomorrow amidst all the chaos caused by ECN,” he wrote.
Former SWAPO Youth League member Julius Nyerere Namholo also criticised the delays, recounting an eight-hour wait to cast his vote.
“Simple things such as estimating the number of voters at certain polling stations so that they estimate the number of voting booths required, it took me eight hours before I finally managed to vote,” he wrote.
Chief electoral and referenda Officer, Peter Shama denied claims of a ballot shortage, stating that sufficient stock had been printed to meet national demand.
He explained that ballot papers were redistributed to address temporary shortages in specific areas.
Shama acknowledged logistical challenges that emerged throughout the day.
He reassured Namibians that the ECN was actively addressing the issues to ensure a smooth voting process for all registered voters.
“I want to emphasise here that we have sufficient ballot papers in the country, as we have already shared with you at the time of printing the ballot papers. We have enough. What we have been doing is to redistribute the ballot papers where they were found as a shortfall,” Shama said.
He acknowledged other logistical challenges, such as overheating electronic tablets used in high-temperature areas and rapidly draining ultraviolet light batteries due to high voter turnout.
“Tablets were heating up, and we had to turn them off to allow them to cool down before resuming the voting process,” Shama explained.
The high voter turnout also posed a challenge due to the rapid draining of batteries for the ultraviolet lights used at certain polling stations.
He said ECN responded by sourcing additional batteries to maintain the integrity of the process.
In addition to these logistical issues, Shama said the commission observed a slower-than-expected movement of queues at several stations.
Shama noted that while the ECN had designed the process to ensure minimal waiting times, the high turnout and human factors led to some delays.
