A DECREASE in voter enthusiasm in this country is causing Electoral Commission officials to lose sleep.
This decline in enthusiasm for participation in elections – especially among young people – is one of the things that the commission says must be addressed immediately. This was expressed by Mr. Masego Sheburi, the acting chief executive officer of the commission, who said that they are on a campaign to encourage people to participate in the elections.
“There are many things that do not concern us alone as a commission but that should concern the whole, which is the issue of the lack of enthusiasm among people in general to vote. The poor performance of the economy is one of the things that make people less enthusiastic,” he said while talking to Newsroom Africa.
He said that people have lost hope because of not getting jobs and not being motivated in the distribution of needs.
“Every time after an election, people’s enthusiasm to participate decreases. And the research we have done points to the same thing. We hope that if the economy improves, people can participate in the election,” he said.
He pointed out that they are busy fixing the challenges in the machines they use when voting. He also pointed out that there are a number of mobile polling stations that they use such as tents.
“There are 1,000 mobile centers that we need to provide water and generators to light them. Most of the voting centers are schools, churches and halls. We pay for these centers to use them.”
He said that they are preparing a lot of voting papers as they will be different according to municipalities and wards.
“We are also preparing the voting list at the polling stations. There are many costs associated with the holding of elections.”
He said that the election in this country is an open one as the representatives of the parties are part of the election process.
“Electoral candidates are part of the voting centers as the results are counted in these centers. No papers are moved to a certain place to be counted. When the counting of the votes is finished, there is left in these centers the representatives of the parties who are able to shoot them and then they have the results of that center.”
He said that political parties receive the election results and can send researchers to check the authenticity of the results.