Voters shun supplementary registration

Onalenna Kelebeile | Saturday March 1, 2014 19:10

 

Statistics for the past five days indicate low numbers despite publicity efforts by the Independent Electoral Commission. Only 664 voters had registered in Selebi-Phikwe East while 751 had registered in Selebi-Phikwe West by yesterday.

Principal Elections Officer Christinah Sesinyi said during an interview that most polling stations tallied below 10 registrations a day.

These numbers are low compared to the supplementary registration last year when the two constituencies had registered 927 and 887 voters respectively during the same period.

Sesinyi said her office had anticipated that people would turn up in large numbers because now they had identified their candidates as opposed to the general registration when the electorate were not keen because primaries had not been held yet.

“People are aware of the ongoing supplementary registration but voter apathy still remains a challenge,” she said. She noted that some electorates have said they were not registering because of disgruntlement with their political parties while some claimed to have lost hope in their leaders. Some said they found no reason to register.  “We will keep on sensitising them and we hope that more will come in the last minute.

“We have established democracy awareness youth clubs in schools and a Democracy Awareness Day was held in Mmadinare Senior Secondary on Thursday afternoon to sensitise people about the ongoing supplementary registration,” she said.