CNE tries to make it easier to vote

Maputo, 11 Oct (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE) on Tuesday announced last minute changes to the rules for voting in Wednesday’s municipal elections, intended to make it easier for citizens to cast their votes.

The Chairperson of the CNE, Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, declared that anyone with a voters card can vote, and anyone on the voters roll can vote. This was confirmed in a special order issued to the provincial directorates of the CNE’s executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), by the STAE General Director, Lolo Correia.

The top officials of the electoral bodies were thus reacting belatedly to the various scandals that had marred the voter registration that ran from 20 April to 3 June.

According to the latest bulletin on the municipal elections issued by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), the CNE and STAE had found that members of the registration brigades, particularly in Beira, had intentionally misspelled names, thus making it difficult to find them on the roll.

Tampering with the voter roll was reported, notably from the district of Morrumbala, in Zambezia province, whereby the names of genuine voters were removed, and replaced by others. Without the CNE/STAE intervention, these voters would have been disenfranchised.

There have also been reports of the ruling Frelimo Party buying up voter cards, in an attempt to prevent opposition supporters from voting, or putting pressure on voters to surrender their cards.

It is not clear how widespread such practices were, but it worried Matsinhe enough for him to urge voters to bring alternative forms of identification to the polling stations.

In his Tuesday speech, Matsinhe declared “Those who have lost their voter cards should go and vote tomorrow. It is enough that they go to the voting sites where they registered, bringing with them any kind of identification document that bears a photograph”.

The instructions are clear: nobody should be denied the right to vote just because they do not have a voters card, or because polling station staff cannot find their names on the roll.

In his speech, Matsinhe urged all registered voters to cast their votes. “Together we can make our democracy stronger, if all of us who have registered go to the polling stations to vote with full responsibility”, he said.

“We the citizens have the responsibility to continue building the future of Mozambique, and continue consolidating democracy”, he added, “and this is only possible through the vote”.

“Let us all vote to choose who will best represent our interests”, Matsinhe continued. “Let us vote to develop our towns and cities”.

He stressed that anyone with a valid voter card can vote, regardless of whether the staff can find their names on the voter roll”.

Matsinhe called for citizens to vote “so as to create an environment of dignity and inclusion, and of tolerance for differences. Let us vote in an orderly manner, avoiding any type of violence and hate speech”.

He warned the polling station staff (MMVs) not to take any actions contrary to the electoral law. If they were in any doubt, “you should consult and support each other so that you do not commit unintentionally acts which constitute electoral crimes, for these are punished in terms of the law”.

As for the election observers, Matsinhe told them “if you spot any anomalies, you should immediately inform the electoral bodies, and they will take the necessary measures”.

The voters, he added, should make voting day “a day of joy, of love and of a true expression of our Mozambican identity, full of unity and brotherhood because we are not and should not be enemies of each other”.

He called on the voters to go home after casting their votes, and not to remain in the vicinity of the polling stations. They should “wait patiently for the declaration of the results”.

Matsinhe was clearly responding to those opposition politicians who have urged their followers to stay at the polling stations “to control the vote”.

This has been done in previous elections, leading to disturbances and even rioting. Matsinhe pointed out that party monitors will be present throughout the count, looking after the interests of the candidates and their supporters.

(AIM)

Pf/ (709)