2,000 observers expected for September polls

About 2,000 electoral observers are expected to oversee the parliamentary elections slated for September 3, the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission, Charles Munyaneza, has said. The national parliamentary polls will be held in the country a day after Rwandans in the diaspora cast their ballot at their respective embassies and other designated polling centres. Speaking to The New Times in a telephone interview, Munyaneza said that the preparations are gaining momentum with the registration of the election observers having kicked off. “We have been accrediting observers; the process kicked off in May and is expected to end in August. They are trickling in slowly but we are confident that by August about 2,000 of them will have registered,” he said. Munyaneza also pointed out that the process to review the voters’ register where voters verify and update their information had been closed at the village level across the country. “The process at the village level closed but it continues online until mid-August and we encourage everyone to follow up and verify their information,” he said. Munyaneza also pointed out that the electoral commission was training members of the different electoral colleges ahead of the polls. “What we are doing right now is to train representatives of the electoral colleges. We started with the youth, then women and now, people with disabilities and the exercise ends this week,” he said. In total, 24 women are elected to represent different provinces and the City of Kigali through the National Women Council. Of these, six women legislators are elected each from Southern, Western and Eastern provinces. Northern Province is represented by four women are elected to represent Northern Province while the City of Kigali gets two. Other colleges are the youth, who, through the National Youth Council elect two representative and the People With Disabilities through their council have one legislator representing them. Fifty-three members of the Lower House will be picked through universal suffrage, which brings it to a total of 80 legislators constituting the Lower Chamber of Parliament. Munyaneza commended the youth, most who are going to be first time voters for their interest in casting their vote in the upcoming elections. Every year, there are over 200,000 new voters. Up to 6,897,076 voters registered for the presidential elections held in August last year, with over 98 per cent of them eventually taking part in the poll. NEC says it expects at least seven million people to participate in the upcoming parliamentary vote. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

News

2,000 observers expected for September polls