Thread: NID Prepares to Observe Elections

New Era - Catherine Sasman

Windhoek — The Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) has completed training of 300 election observers that will be deployed in all regions for the November elections.

Final accreditation of the observers with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is underway, and a round of refresher workshops for all observers is now being conducted in 11 towns across Namibia until November 13.

Theunis Keulder of the NID acknowledged that this number is small in comparison to the number of anticipated polling stations - 1600 - saying that the NID was the only non-governmental organisation that has been able to raise funds for election activities.

Keulder said the NGO would try and counteract the deficit in civil society observers by having them move around polling stations, and to sensitise members of the public, who can, through SMSs and e-mail, report on the electoral process.

He said the organisation would similarly rely on political party observers for input.

The main elements of the training included the monitoring of the election process, organisation and deployment of domestic election observers and verifying election results.

Training covered the examination of the registration process (voters' roll preparation, accreditation of domestic and international observers, and so on); administrative preparation of the election dates (the selection and training of electoral offices); campaigning and national level implementation of political parties code of conduct; the use of Government resources; the involvement and conduct of security services; and access to resources and freedom of individuals and entities to support parties.

Also included in the training was an examination of the content and quality of reporting by the media on election related processes; access to relevant information processes and events.