All three are critical to next year's election and must be successful for it to be credible. The voters' register was last updated in 2005 and many have attained the voting age of 18 since then. It is currently being updated with an emphasis on newly eligible voters in an exercise that started on June 21 and is expected to run for an initial 90 days until the end of next month. It is being carried out on a mobile basis in all the 150 parliamentary constituencies with the difference this time that those who registered in 2005 do not need to do so again unless they lost their voters' card or have relocated.
The target is to have at least 2.5 million voters on the roll by election time, which is widely expected to be held by October 2011 at the latest. There is a probability that the exercise will be extended beyond the 90-day period depending on how it turns out after the initial period. So far, the widely publicised exercise is gaining momentum in all parts of the country and actual registration is designed to be quick with no hold ups for those with the requisite documents.
