The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has trained 100,000 volunteers to ensure the July presidential and parliamentary elections go smoothly, an official told The New Times on Thursday, June 6. Moise Bukasa, the NEC Communication Officer, also told The New Times that up to 2,442 polling stations, with 17,400 polling rooms, are ready. ALSO READ: Over nine million Rwandans register to vote in July elections “The number of polling stations and polling rooms in every village and cell are determined based on the total number of registered voters, every cell must have a polling station and polling rooms that are equal to the number of villages the cell has,” he said. “Every polling room must be used by 500 voters in total. When the number of voters in a village exceeds 500, then more rooms for this village are created.” The polling rooms are mainly made up of classrooms and Rwandan embassies designated for use in the diaspora. According to the regulations governing the upcoming elections, NEC officials shall prepare polling rooms at least one day before voting day in collaboration with local administrative authorities and other stakeholders so as to ensure adequate space and a clean environment for voters. ALSO READ: First-time voters speak out on upcoming elections The election officials, upon receiving the voting materials, shall check if the voting materials are valid and are in good condition and complete according to the needs of polling stations. Election officials shall also set up at least two polling booths in each polling room, and polling stations shall bear electoral identification signs determined by NEC. “The volunteers comprise election officials at sector level, a polling station coordinator, coordinators of polling rooms at the polling station, three polling assistants and two substitutes at each polling station,” Bukasa explained, noting that a second and final training session is being planned. “The volunteers are chosen based on their home area as we need people from every village. They have completed the first session of training and are now looking forward to the next one, which NEC will provide.” Bukasa said that additional materials needed by the volunteers such as t-shirts and identification cards, will be provided sometime closer to the elections by NEC.
