The Electoral Commission of Namibia is in full swing with preparations for the General Registration of Voters and has commenced with a mock voters' registration exercise in the |Khomas Region.

Namibia will be heading to the polls in November this year for the presidential and National Assembly elections.

This is the second mock voter's registration undertaken by the electoral body.

In November last year, ECN covered five regions, to test the new technology it intends to use to register voters for the November polls.

The registration of voters is conducted every ten years, and the manager for corporate communication at the ECN, De Wet Siluka, applauds the integrated mobile voter registration technology, which will be used once the official registration commences later this year.

"We are rolling out the new voter registration system, which is called Integrated Mobile Voter Registration. In order to ensure effectiveness, we are doing the mock registration, which is to test the efficiency and effectiveness of the equipment before the actual rollout."

Siluka points out that the enhanced system leverages mobile technology to make voter registration more accessible and is marking a significant milestone in the elections to modernise and improve election processes. 

The mock registration will take place in all 10 constituencies of the |Khomas Region over the next two days.

The turnout for the mock registration conducted last year, says Siluka, has been good, and he says the response from the community, particularly the youth, has been impressive.

"The reports from our mobile teams are that they have not received any challenges, and the other thing is that the system is really working in the sense that people are only staying for between three and five minutes for the registration.

The spokesperson extended an invitation to key stakeholders, particularly political parties and organizations or associations, to partake in this important registration pilot exercise. 

Following the mock registration, the ECN says Siluka will keep stakeholders informed about any technical challenges or glitches, addressing them before the actual deployment during the general registration of voters.