2016-11-08Staff Report 2 Windhoek - American students, diplomats, men and women in uniform as well as business people in Namibia, should at least vote by today either via mail correspondences, fax messages or scanned email ballots, some post-marked with today’s date. Today Americans are expected to choose their next president to succeed Barack Obama with the two main contenders being the Democrat Hilary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, while the names of Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party and Jill Stein of the Green party are showing up on the radar. The victor will be the 45th US president and those citizens in the Diaspora, including those residing in Namibia, voted through what is known as ‘absentee voting’, according to the United States (US) embassy in Windhoek. Spokesperson Eric Atkins told New Era yesterday that ‘absentee voting’ is not new to American politics but the eligible voters must be registered in their home state before they can be allowed to cast such a vote. He stressed that the mission has no control or coordination regarding ballots send for ‘absentee voting’. “Citizens require a ballot to be sent to them through the mail or email or fax, and when they vote they can send them back through any of the three methods,” Atkins said. “We have no control of this process. We do however assist when we are asked to by our citizens.” Atkins could however not provide statistics regarding the American population in Namibia. The mission has sent out a link ‘Share America elections page’ for programming needs on every aspect of those elections, from how the candidates are selected to the integrity of the elections and the peaceful transfer of power. It is BBC.com’s analysis that the most powerful nation on earth is about to elect a new leader who is also the commander-in-chief of the largest military on the planet. 2016-11-08Staff Report 2
