Tanzania: NEC Must Ensure Free And Fair Poll
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
EDITORIAL
8 October 2008
Posted to the web 8 October 2008
With less than a week before voters go to the polls in the by-election in Tarime constituency, queries are being raised about the authenticity of the voters' register.
Though it's largely the same one, which was used in the last elections in 2005, there have been a number of new additions, with some youngsters attaining the voting age and some people transferring from where they voted the last time.
Unless properly authenticated, this is an area, which could become the ground for any legal complainants about the conduct of this very election.
Since at the core of democracy is free choice of a candidate by popular vote, any manipulation of the voters' roll could open the door for the distortion of the people's will.
It is, therefore, up to the National Electoral Commission (Nec) to give an assurance to all the candidates, their parties, supporters, and the country as a whole that the choice next Sunday of the successor to Chadema politician Chacha Wangwe, who died in a road accident last July, will be free and fair.
And a good starting point would be a thorough verification of the register to rule out any foul play.
We raise this issue because of the mounting complaints, with some people alleging that their names are missing. Others say they have seen multiple entries of their names and suspect this could be part of a grand plan to rig the election.
More than 200 of the 146,000 registered voters say their names are missing from the register. Dozens of other people claim to have been told that their names had been moved to other electoral areas. What this means is that there is bound to be a lot of confusion on the polling day.
Given the stiff competition for the seat between CCM and Chadema, which has sparked one of the most violent election campaigns ever, the errors and any other complaints are delicate issues that need to be seriously and genuinely addressed by the Nec in the presence of representatives of all the stakeholders.
After all, a single vote is what one needs to win the poll and irregularities that are likely to give an undue advantage to one side will compromise the possibility of having a free and fair poll.
Relevant Links
We hope the top echelons of the Nec will immediately move to Tarime to directly supervise this election, which if not properly handled could terribly undermine the electoral process.
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