Somaliland: Local Council Elections Has two Objectives-NEC

By: Yusuf M Hasan

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Citizens have been informed of voting procedures and objectives of the forthcoming local elections.

The National Election Commission- has affirmed 28th November 2012 as the ballot day for the country’s second local council elections in a statement signed by all the seven election commissioners.

The statement which gave details of voting procedures during the local council elections also informed that the objectives of the council elections are two-pronged as they are not only meant to elect Councillors but the two national political parties as well.

The NEC statement read:

The local council elections shall take place in 23 local councils nationwide on 28 November 2012 as planned with elected councillors holding their offices for a period of five years from date of election.

The election Commission further which wishes to ensure voters follow the laid down voting procedures hereby informs that:

1. Elections shall be held on 28th November 2012

2. Identity and Voters cards are not required thus on voting only a finger shall be painted black as proof of voting.

3. You are only allowed to vote once and for one candidate only thus illegal to attempt to or actually vote more than once.

4. vote once and for one candidate only

5. Make sure that the mark you place for your preferred candidate in the ballot paper is within and does not extend outside the box next to your candidate.

6. If by chance you place the voting mark wrongly please return the spoiled ballot paper to the election officers and collect a new one. It is not shameful to be sure and precise.

7. If you require any assistance kindly consult election officials who are there to help you make the right choice in the correct way.

8. The local council elections has two objectives:

A. Elect local council members for the next five years.

B. Out of the seven contesting parties elect three national political parties to be registered for the next five years.

C. For further information kindly visit http://www.necsomaliland.com  and GDQ 

voter.education@necsomaliland.com   or the NEC twitter or facebook Accounts. Unquote

The NEC statement seems to be just a reminder since all relevant Civic education pertaining to all necessities for the elections have already be disbursed by Teachers from the ministry of education and 41 local Non Governmental Organizations-LNGOs.

The 41 LNGOs that were subcontracted for the civic education campaign made sure that all segment of society both literate and illiterate received the information properly since they utilized diverse methods like Songs, Dance, poems, posters stickers, billboards, facebook, twitter and SMS etc.

As per The membership composition of the 23 locals councils that are dictated by the grade in which a particular local government is classified as in A+, A, B, & C. shall be as indicated in the table below detailing council, region, grade/ and # of Contestants as well as required membership.