Nearly 28 000 ballots rejected in Namibia’s presidential and National Assembly elections, raising concerns over voter education

Nearly 28 000 ballots cast in Namibia’s presidential and National Assembly elections have been rejected by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).

According to results announced by the ECN late yesterday, 14 830 ballots out of 1 039 538 votes cast in the National Assembly election in 112 of Namibia’s 121 constituencies were rejected.

In the presidential election, 13 004 votes out of 982 454 cast in 111 constituencies in the presidential election were also rejected.

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says the number of invalid votes is of concern.

“It undermines the efforts of voters and questions the effectiveness of voter education and the electoral process. This highlights the need for comprehensive civic and voter education to ensure citizens understand how to correctly cast their ballots,” he says.

SPOILED VS REJECTED VOTES

Kamwanyah says rejected votes are a result of ballot papers being improperly marked by voters before being placed in ballot boxes.

“A spoiled vote occurs when a ballot is damaged or improperly marked before it is cast. It is not placed in the ballot box and is replaced with a new one.

“A rejected vote, on the other hand, is cast but later disqualified during counting due to unclear or improper marking.

“As for classification, votes are classified as spoiled or rejected based on specific criteria, such as illegible markings or multiple selections where only one is allowed,” he says.

The analyst says a high number of invalid votes may stem from systemic issues like unclear instructions, poorly designed ballots or insufficient voter education.

ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua, during a media briefing on preliminary election results yesterday, said the commission will remain focused despite criticism.

“There are, of course, some lessons you can take from it,” she said.

Nghikembua said the high number of rejected votes is of major concern.

“The commission started doing voter education two years ago in preparation for the polls and political parties have also done their own voter education.

“We need to conduct proper research and analyse how the ballot papers are rejected and the basis for their rejection. Rejected votes are a significant concern.

“I don’t think the majority of voters go to the polls intending for their votes to be rejected and we need to get to the bottom of this.

“It is a collective responsibility and that is why, as the ECN, we know we cannot address this on our own,” she said.

Nghikembua said ballot papers are also given to political parties in advance to educate their members.

“Eventually, when we do the counting of seats, those rejected votes might even amount to a quarter of the total number of votes.

“Voter education has been done, but I think we need to invest in proper research to understand why this is still happening,” she said.

Meanwhile, ECN commissioner Pius Likwambi also explained the difference between spoiled and rejected ballots.

“Rejected ballots are those which have been deposited in the ballot box, but upon examination by polling officials, the voter’s intention cannot be determined. Spoiled ballot papers, on the other hand, are those issued to voters who then realise they have made a mistake before depositing the paper in the box. They return it to the presiding officer and request a new ballot paper, which they can then use to cast their vote,” he said.

“The difference is that rejected ballots make it to the ballot box, but polling officials are unable to ascertain the voter’s intention upon counting. Spoiled ballots are identified by voters before depositing and are exchanged for new ones,” he said.