Final Voters GRV in numbers - Article for Vote 17 March 2014
1. 1,162,366 voters registered inthe GRV of2014
The ECN has completedthe General Registrationof Voters (GRV) duringthe period15 Januaryto 2
March 2014. The total numberof registrationwas 1,162,366 of which3,441 were votersregisteringat
foreignembassies.Duringthe launchon14 March, the Chairpersonof the ECN,Adv.NotembaTjipueja,
announcedthe resultsandgave statisticsonthe votersthatwere registeredinthe country.
The Chairpersonalsoindicatedthatthe ECN will have periodof supplementaryregistration,due in
Septemberthisyear, whichwill givecitizenswhomissedoutafinal chance to registerbefore national
electionsare expectedtotake place atthe end of November2014.
The 3rd General Registrationof Votersexercise wasamammothnational taskas itindeedentailedan
uncharteredterritoryof enormousproportionforayoungdemocracysuch as Namibiaanda relatively
small institutionlikethe ECN.
The GRV entailed:-
699 Teams (Fixed:175, Semi-Fixed:382 and Mobile:142)
3,852 Registrationpoints
3,866 TemporaryRegistrationOfficials(including58RegistrationOfficialsatDiplomatic
Missions)
1,268 DeployedPolice Officers
RegisteredVotersbyRegion
In thechart below,the registered votersare broken down by region with a column graph indicating
differencesin numberand thepie chart indicating percentageof the totalnumberof votersregistered.
2. Khomashas the highestnumberof voters(211,787) withOmaheke havingthe leastnumberof
registeredvoters(39,094).
RegisteredVotersbyGeneration
The ECN has notedthe highnumberof youthful votersagedbetween18and 32 that have registered.
Thisage groupmakesup around44% of those registered.
Of interestwasalsothe factthat the “born-frees”(votersbornafter21 March 1990) make up 228,703
or 19.73% of registeredvoters.
3. RegisteredVotersbyGender
Slightlymore than53% of the votersregisteredwere female thoughthisnumbervariesperregion.
Conclusion
Havingconcludedthe registrationprocessisonlythe firstprocessinthe manyinterconnectedelectoral
processesof anElectioncycle.However,the registrationprocessispivotal andif well executed,itlaysa
solidfoundationforotherprocessesincludingthe election.The remainingstepstoconclude the GRV
processare all prescribedbylawandare as follows:
• The completionof datauploading&consolidationprocess;
• IntegritychecksandQualityControl;
• The compilationof the provisionalvoters’register;
• The actual displayof the provisional voters’registerduringthe ObjectionPeriod;
• The adjudicationof the objectioncasesbyMagistrates;
• The cleaningof the provisional voters’registerandthe updatingthereof followingthe ruling
by Magistrates;
• The printingof the Final Voters’Registerandgazettingthereof on27 May 2014.
The Commissioners,Directorandstaff wouldliketo thankthe Voterswhocame in theirmassesto
register,ourleadersatall levels,sistergovernmentagenciesincludingthe Police andSecurityforces.
The Electoral Commissionof Namibia(ECN) wouldlike tomake use of thisopportunitytothankthe
electorate,includingthe entire Namibiannationforthe patience andunderstandingshownbyeligible
personswhile waitingtobe registeredasvotersat differentregistrationpointsacrossthe countryandat
all Namibia’sforeignmissionsacrossthe globe.
4. The ECN wishestoexpressitsprofoundgratitudetoall the staff memberswhocontributedtothe
successof this veryimportantandhistoricmilestone. The ECN would alsolike toextendaspecial word
of thanks,throughthe InspectorGeneral of the NamibianPolice,toourmanand womaninuniformwho
participatedinthisprocess,fortheirselflessdedicationand professional conduct.
The ECN furtherwishestoacknowledgeandencourage the role playedbyleadersatthe National,
Regional andall otherlevelsinpopularizingthe GRV. Equallywe acknowledgethe importantrole played
by otherstakeholdersincluding the mediaandcivil societyorganization,andCommunityLeaders.Itis
worthnotingthat the NamibiaBroadcastingCorporation(NBC) throughthe languagesservicesin
particularplayedanimportantrole.
On that note,letuscongratulate ourselvesandcelebrateasa Nationthe successful 3rdGRV.