-- As vote counting got under way in Namibia’s fifth post-independence election, opposition parties complained that irregularities had marred the process.

Electoral officials had provided four different figures for the number of people on the voters’ roll and it remained unclear how many were entitled to cast ballots, four opposition parties said in a statement issued in the capital Windhoek today. They also complained that their party agents were barred from some polling stations and that supposedly indelible ink used to prevent people from voting twice could be washed off.

“We believe our concerns have been proved genuine and surely this may compromise the outcome of the election,” the Rally for Democracy and Progress, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, the Republican Party and the South West Africa National Union said in the statement.

In a statement issued late on Saturday, the parties claimed that several ballots were cast at Epembe in the Ohangwena region that did not have the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) identification stamp on it. “This incident was due to criminal negligence by officials of the ECN, or worse yet, an attempt at outright rigging,” the statement noted.

The parties also claimed that the indelible inkused mark the hand of the voters was in fact removable, and that several attempts of people trying to vote more than once were spotted. One such incident allegedly happened at the Jan Mohr High School polling station in the Dorado Park suburb.

Several party agents were also allegedly denied entry into polling stations in Okahandja, while the ruling Swapo-Party agents in the some of the constituencies in the Ohangwena region are accused of personally assisting voters to cast their votes, something the parties claim is in gross violation of the Electoral Act.

Fourteen parties contested the Nov. 27-28 parliamentary elections, and 12 fielded candidates in a parallel presidential vote. The ruling South West African People’s Organization, which won 55 of the 72 seats in elections five years ago, is almost certain to extend its 20-year reign and President Hifikepunye Pohamba is set to win a second five-year term.

In a separate statement, Swapo’s youth wing said compilation of the voters roll had been overseen by a government department headed by RDP leader Hidipo Hamutenya’s wife and she should be answerable for any discrepancies.

The problems that had been experienced were relatively minor and would not compromise the overall integrity of the election, said Theo Mujoro, deputy director of operations at the Electoral Commission of Namibia.

Election Observers

Four regional groupings that observed the poll are due to present their findings over the next two days.

Counting began at polling stations after the vote ended at 9 p.m. local time last night. The first tallies, which are being collated at 107 regional centers, are expected to be submitted to the national results center later today, Mujoro said.

Bloomberg and other sources