Namibian observer mission to the Venezuelan election, Erginus Endjala, has called on the Electoral Commission of Namibia to emulate the election process there.
In an interview with Nampa on Monday, immediately after the announcement of Nicolás Maduro as the winner, Endjala, who is the governor of Omusati back home, described the election as having been held in a calm atmosphere, organised, free and fair.
Maduro was declared the winner after obtaining 51% of the vote against opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez’s 44% on Sunday.
The Venezuelan presidential elections were held on 28 July 2024 to choose a president for a six-year term, beginning on 10 January 2025.
However, international media report that fresh demonstrations were expected in Venezuela yesterday after one person died when security forces tried to break up protests triggered by the election result that gave Maduro a third term in power.
Maduro dismissed criticism and doubts about the result of Sunday’s voting, claiming Venezuela was the target of an attempted “coup d’etat” of a “fascist and counter-revolutionary” nature.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at angry protesters challenging Maduro’s reelection victory but disputed by the opposition and questioned by many other countries.
Endjala said voting in Venezuela is electronic, and voters just need to press the button assigned to their preferred candidate on a voting machine.
“The electronic voting is a heavily audited process in Venezuela. Upon casting a vote electronically, a voter can verify that his or her vote was cast as intended through a paper receipt, which the voter then places into the ballot box,” he said.
Endjala stressed that if the ECN can collaborate with the Venezuelan election commission to acquire the knowledge and technology used, it could ensure a faster election process in Namibia.
In 2020, however, Namibia’s Supreme Court ruled that should the ECN want to make use of EVMs, they must ensure that these are combined with a verifiable paper trail. The court made the order after 2019 presidential election candidates Panduleni Itula, Henk Mudge, Epafras Mukwiilongo, Ignatius Shixwameni and Mike Kavekotora sued the ECN, questioning the legality of using EVMs without a paper trail that can verify every vote cast on the devices.
Endjala noted that they followed the process with keen interest and were given the opportunity to visit polling stations where people were casting their votes.
He further indicated that the election was a one-day process and that once voting was concluded, all results were compiled by the system.
He urged Namibians to appreciate the opportunity they have to register as voters, and encouraged every Namibian to go and cast their vote on 27 November in order to exercise their democratic rights.
Another member of the delegation, Willem Amutenya, who is a Swapo Party Youth League central committee member, congratulated the people of Venezuela for having truly spoken and defended their revolution to ensure the development of their country.
He stated that what impressed him most was the involvement of young people in voting, which should be a clear message to the young people of Namibia that it is their responsibility to make a choice. -Nampa