Over 200,000 to vote without ID

KIGALI - A total of 235,237 Rwandans will exercise their right to vote despite not having national Identity Cards, the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Charles Munyaneza, said yesterday. He told The New Times that special documents will be issued to eligible voters without IDs to enable them cast the vote. A total of 5.2 million Rwandans are expected to cast the ballot, representing a 1.3 million increase compared to 2003 presidential elections. “As long as you are registered to vote, there should not be any reason why you shouldn’t vote. The local government will issue certificates to those who are registered but do not have IDs or those who lost them,” he said. The new figure represents a sharp decrease compared to the 677,036 voters who originally had no IDs by June according to a recent Senatorial report on election preparations. Munyaneza also said that a number of people will not vote for various reasons. “A total of 195,477 people will not vote because of their status, such as refugees and those convicted of Genocide crimes, among others. The law simply prohibits them,” he said Asked about the preparations for the elections, Munyaneza said that currently, voting materials are being dispatched to polling stations all over the country and in the Diaspora. He expressed optimism that the elections will proceed much better than in previous years especially because a lot more time had been invested in the process. “We are sure that this time the elections will be conducted better in the Diaspora because we had enough time to meet and hold discussions with most of them. This year’s elections will also be different because a bigger number in the Diaspora has registered to vote and we expect everything to proceed well,” he said Up to 16,000 polling stations will be set up while 70,000 polling agents are currently undergoing training. Four candidates are currently on the campaign trail. The campaigns, which started on July 20 are expected to end on August 08, a day before voting day. Ends