Political parties in the ||Kharas Region  have  raised concerns over the lack of oversight in the printing of duplicate voter cards ahead of the Regional Councils and Local Authority elections next month.  

The printing of duplicate voter cards is scheduled to take place from 17 to 24 November 2025.

They made the call at the stakeholders engagement at Keetmanshoop, where political parties were updated on the recently concluded submission of nominations process, the status of voter education and the printing of ballot papers. 

Political parties' codes of conduct and logistical readiness, as well as polling venues and collation centres, were also topics discussed at the engagement session. 

The Popular Democratic Movement's (PDM) Ferdinand Jacobs says, "Do any of the role players know when this is going to be done? By the time they are doing this, the officials have taken an oath. Will there be police officers deployed? As the independent candidates and political parties are going to have some oversight because there might be a loophole, and that loophole might be exploited."

Stanley |Ui-#Nuseb, a representative of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), adds, "Definitely there is a loophole. And there must be somebody to take oversight of presenting the parties involved in the process so that we can see verification is done right; the person is already on the voters' roll, therefore it can be re-registered or a duplicate card can be issued."

The Regional Electoral Officer for ||Kharas Region, Jejamaije Mujoro, responded to the concern raised, saying, "So the reprinting in constituencies is guided by the government space provision of security." So, most of these are happening at the constituency offices, and the security is by law enhanced. So, most of these officers will have securities that are paid, and we also request police, so there is no way that they will come and start the process of initiating new cards. So it is just duplicate cards." 

Mujoro encouraged political parties to freely observe and verify the voter card reprinting process themselves.

The political parties further suggested that senior citizens and persons with disabilities be allowed to participate in the special voting scheduled for 24 November. 

In response, Mujoro said the Electoral Act does not make provision for senior citizens to participate in the special voting day but added the matter could be considered during the Act's review.