The polling stations were officially open from 7 am until 9 pm. Thus, we started as early as six in the morning, to visit the first polling station, the open-space polling station on Independence Avenue in Windhoek. As we arrived at 6.30 am, there were no voters yet, nevertheless there was a lot happening. Government representatives, Diplomats from Botswana and other election observers already arrived before the official opening of the polling station, in order to be shown how the electronic voting machines (EVM) worked and how the general process of voting is handled. The EVMs were rightfully sealed and in comparison to the presidential elections in 2014, the election observers made an even securer and well prepared impression. However, we realised that the whole process of voting was slightly arduous and complicated. At first the thumbs of voters were checked for special ink. In order to prevent people from voting twice, voter’s thumbs were marked with a black dot. Secondly, the election card of each voter was checked and scanned with an electronic device. However, due to the fact that these devices weren’t always linked to a central computer, names and signatures hat to be written on a separate sheet of paper by hand. At the third step, each voter was given the special ink mark on his thumb, which reacts to black light and is hard to wash off. Then the voters had to register again, in order to vote for the Local Authority. The same happened in front of the regional Council booth. The EVMs should minimise the risk of election fraud. The Botswanan diplomats said, that in their homeland, the introduction of EVMs was highly considered. We did not stay until the polling station opened, but went to the Suiderhof Primary School in Windhoek.

As we arrived there a few minutes past 7 am, we noticed, that already a lot of people were queuing in front of the polling station. As seen at presidential elections, the voters brought chairs and drinks, in order to prepare for long waiting hours. However, due to the already known EVMs, the election observers could improve their working speed and guide voters through the steps faster. Elderly and disabled citizens were able to skip the queue, to relieve them of waiting in the sun. Furthermore, we noticed a presence of four police officers, who checked bags and voters out of security reasons. This may be due to the visit of high ranking politicians, or the fact that a polling station was shot the night before. It was important for them to minimise all risks.

Next to police officers and election officials, party agents of different parties were present. This is important especially for opposition parties, in order to be able to demand a revision of the election results. If one doesn’t observe an election, it will be hard for him to judge. Keeping this in mind, it is surprising that a vast majority of party agents were from SWAPO. At some polling stations there were opposition party agents, but never more than one or two. Furthermore, we were told at the first polling station, that no information in regard to the parties of the party agents could be given, at all other polling station this didn’t seem to be a problem at all.

At the polling station at the Dordabis Primary School, a one hour drive out of Windhoek, were not many voters present. However, as we arrived around 12.30 pm, approximately 170 out of 300 registered voters had already cast their votes. Again, we couldn’t find any irregularities. Nevertheless, one voter entered the polling station, wearing a SWAPO hat, but was immediately told to remove it, by the SWAPO party agent. We were not sure if the presence of party symbols at the polling station was regularly checked and forbidden, or if our presence triggered this reaction. At our last stop, the Wanaheda Police Station in Windhoek, we were also greeted very friendly. However, similar to Dordabis, there were few voters present at the polling station. We were told, that approximately 400 voters had already cast their votes. Be that as it may, nobody could tell us how many voters were registered in this constituency in total. After we took a picture of different party agents, NID election observers and us, we ended our day of observing.

All in all, we had the impression that the elections were peaceful and rightful. Despite a few organisational problems, the election officials were well prepared. Also, unlike the presidential elections in 2014, nobody had to wait in broad sunlight for several hours. Reasons for that may be the good working election officials, or, which is very likely, the low voter turnout of 30-40 percent. Personally, it was highly interesting to observe an election, which is very different from Germany. Especially the EVMs were interesting and we were able to get our very own impressions.

Author: Ferdinand Rehder