More than 9.5 million Rwandans have registered to vote in the 2024 joint presidential and parliamentary elections and about 2 million of them are first-time voters, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

This was said on Thursday, May 16, as NEC officials briefed the media on the preparation of the elections due in July.

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The numbers of registered voters may change as the voters’ list is being updated. The final list of voters will be announced on June 29.

"Currently, we are consolidating the lists of voters for the village level, and verifying each person’s profile to ascertain their eligibility to vote so that we have the final list of voters on time,” NEC Chairperson Oda Gasinzigwa said, adding that about 90 per cent of expected voters had registered.

"As the list continues to be updated, so far up to two million first-time voters have registered and this is reflective of Rwanda’s young population. We appreciate the participation of the youth in the election activities,” Gasinzigwa said.

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About 9.5 million voters are expected to take part in the 2024 joint presidential and parliamentary elections, up from 6.8 million voters in 2017 presidential elections and 8.1 million in the 2018 parliamentary elections.

Up to 53,000 Rwandans in the diaspora have registered for the 2024 general election, up from about 21,000 who registered for the 2017 election, NEC Executive Secretary Charles Munyaneza said.

He said in collaboration with other government institutions, the electoral commission is ensuring that every registered voter will be able to access polling stations, both in Rwanda and in other countries.

There will be over 2,400 polling stations across the country.

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"Visually impaired people will be able to vote in the July elections using Braille, a reading and writing system that uses the touch of fingers on paper. This and ramp access to polling stations are some of the ways that people with disabilities will be facilitated to exercise their civic responsibilities,” Munyaneza said.

Eight independent presidential aspirants have expressed interest to vie for the presidential polls but the Electoral Commission did not divulge their names by press time.

"We have received eight people who want to vie for the presidency and 41 independent aspirants for parliamentary seats,” Gasinzigwa said.

The electoral commission will begin to receive candidatures for the presidency and parliamentary seats from Friday, May 17 until May 30.

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Independent candidates began collecting signatures of their supporters on April 18 and are required to get 600 signatures from their supporters across the country.

At least 12 of these signatures must be collected from each of the country’s 30 districts.

Starting on Friday, candidacies will be received during working hours on work days. The aspirants were requested to notify the electoral commission at least 24 hours before they arrive at its headquarters in Nyarugenge District.

The provisional list of approved candidates for the presidency, as well as for parliament will be announced on June 6 while the final list will be announced on June 14.

The campaign period will begin on June 22 and close on July 13 before voting gets underway from July 14 to 16.