An eyewitness account

I left the Keetmanshoop Urban collation centre at the Agricultural Show Hall with a heavy heart as I headed back to Windhoek on Saturday.As a Network Media Hub (NMH) journalist, I was stationed in Keetmanshoop, tasked with observing, collecting and relaying voting results from the region during last week’s presidential and National Assembly elections.Leaving the southern town, I felt as though I had not delivered as a reporter and that the systems employed by the ECN had failed the election officials of the ||Karas Region.While the voting on 27 November faced operational challenges such as ballot paper shortages, overheating voter identification tablets, and ultraviolet lights running out of batteries, this was not the case in Keetmanshoop.Voters behaved responsibly and the process was free – until a shortage of ballot papers and an incapable system unfairly derailed the votes verification process in the region.I sincerely hope that the ENC will learn from these mistakes and ensure such issues never crop up again in future Namibian national elections.ReconnaissanceUpon my arrival last Tuesday in Keetmanshoop, I set out in the morning to locate the regional collation centre and the various polling stations.I came across groups of polling officials who had just completed a training session and were in the process of taking receipt of the non-sensitive materials needed for the election process at the Agricultural Show Hall, where the ||Karas collation centre would be stationed. While the officials departed for the Keetmanshoop Police Station to collect the sensitive materials (metal cases with ballot books and ballot boxes) needed for the election process, I spoke to the regional electoral officer, Jejamaite Mujoro, who provided me with an update on the process. The only issue at that point was the availability of vehicles to transport officials to some of the voting stations.At the police station, I observed polling officials collect their sensitive materials. This process went smoothly.I then visited the polling stations on my list, where polling officials were busy setting up for the upcoming election process. By 17:00, most stations I had visited were ready, with an atmosphere of nervousness and eager anticipation filling the air.Right on timeI woke at 05:00 on election day and made my way to the Teachers Resource Centre (TRC), where regional governor Aletha Frederick was expected to cast her vote. An hour before the polling station was set to open on a chilly morning, the presiding officer began preparing the sensitive materials for the election process in the presence of party representatives. The polling station doors opened promptly at 07:00, with 84-year-old granny Elfriede Meyer being the first to vote, completing the process in less than seven minutes.Next, I proceeded to other polling stations where I witnessed that the lines were quite long with the voting process in full swing.Namibians had evidently turned out in force to exercise their democratic right to vote and make their voices heard. The longest queue I encountered was at the W.K. Rover Hall polling station in Tseiblaagte. This polling station, however, accommodated two voting booths.Whenever I entered a polling station, I presented my accreditation to the police officer on duty and the presiding officer. I was welcomed warmly and allowed to work freely within the stipulations of the electoral law.By midday, the blistering sun had melted away the morning&#039;s chill.Smooth operations When I visited the polling stations at 18:00, I observed the processes running smoothly. The tablets were functioning and the queues had reduced significantly, with voters patiently waiting and casting their ballots.Then the presiding officer at the TRC polling station told me at 18:15 that he anticipated running out of ballot papers and had requested additional ballot books, which were due to be delivered at 19:00. When I arrived at the TransNamib Polling Station at 21:00, a police officer had been placed at the back of the queue and tasked to inform those still arriving to vote that only those who were in the queue at 21:00 would be allowed to cast their votes.Sudden derailment I approached the polling station at the Public Library at 21:15 and noticed that there were no more voters queuing outside. The security guard at the gate informed me that the ECN has decided to extend the voting process.This caught everybody completely off guard. I confirmed this with the presiding officer, who showed me a WhatsApp message from the regional electoral official directing polling stations to stay open until further notice. The directive came as a result of certain polling stations in other regions of the country running out of ballot papers. This was definitely not the case in the ||Karas Region. I continued my rounds and found most polling stations empty, with officials sitting around idly until 03:00, when the instruction came from the ECN to close the doors and begin the counting process.I joined the officials at the TransNamib polling station as the ballot boxes were opened and the vote counting process commenced before heading over to the Keetmanshoop Urban constituency collation Centre at the Agricultural Show Hall.The first boxes containing votes from 11 polling stations in the area arrived at 07:15 and more continued to trickle in throughout the morning. By 14:30, the last outstanding ballots from the St. De Francis Sales polling station arrived. By then, four of the tallies from the Keetmanshoop Urban polling stations had already been captured and uploaded onto the ECN system for verification.System crash A demoralising setback suddenly occurred at 15:00 when the ECN online system went haywire. Returning officers suddenly struggled to upload results for verification and release. Frustration mounted as time ticked away, and by the end of the day, it was decided to try again the following morning.The situation dragged on for several days, with internet connectivity initially blamed as the culprit, followed by a data overflow emerging as the possible cause for the landmark delay. Eventually, I was left with no choice but to drive off left without the voting results for the Keetmanshoop Urban and Rural constituencies available yet.#NamibiaDecides2024

An eyewitness account

Comments

Namibian Sun 2024-12-26

Please login to leave a comment

An eyewitness account

Comments

Namibian Sun 2024-12-26

Please login to leave a comment

Login