Prisoners, refugees will not vote-NEC

Rwandans living outside the country with refugee status and people detained in prisons will not take part in the August 9 Presidential elections, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has revealed. Speaking to The New Times yesterday, NEC Executive Secretary, Charles Munyaneza, said “people who will be in prisons on the Election Day will not vote.” Munyaneza however added that those released before that date and fulfil all the requirements will absolutely vote. “Another group of people that will not vote are Rwandan refugees abroad,” he announced. Regarding the voters’ registration, the Executive Secretary said that work is underway to finalise the voters list and that currently, NEC is updating the new electronic voters’ registry. “We are currently updating our database, and before the end of June, we will release a provisional list of voters which we will circulate in all the villages across the country for any ratification,” he said. He added that a final list is expected to be released in July. About 5.3 million Rwandans are expected to cast a vote during the August 2010 presidential elections. Ends