The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia holds consultations with stakeholders on various directives

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has been preparing various directives in accordance with the authority given to it by Proclamation 1162/2019 and is holding various consultations with stakeholders before approving them.

The purpose of the consultations was to include inputs provided by stakeholders and to introduce the guidelines. Last Friday, November 20, 2020, a discussion was held with political parties and the media, on the allocation of air time for election campaign. During the discussion, details about the techniques and ways of airtime distribution and the technology was presented by the Board and the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority.
During the discussion, party representatives said that the reduction in airtime of a party previously having parliamentary seat, from 60 percent to 5 percent will make the competition environment better. In addition to the parliamentary seat requirements for airtime allocation, a discussion was also held on the following criteria for airtime allocation. - 25 percent - equally distributed
- 40 percent - based on the number of candidates each party will nominate for the federal and regional councils
- 20 percent - depending on the number of female candidates nominated by the party
- 10 percent - depending on the number of disabled persons nominated by the party

During the discussion, the deputy chairperson of the board has responded to the complaint raised about the formula for offering female candidates. In addition, questions were asked about the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority's code of conduct and the responsibilities of the private media.

In addition, today on November 23, 2020, a discussion was held with civil society organizations on special polling station guidelines and pastoralist voter registration guidelines. Pastoralists, students, internally displaced peoples and civil society organizations working on women and people with disabilities have participated in the discussion. The main purpose of the two directives is to provide an accessible system for citizens living far from their permanent residences to make full use of their constitutional right to vote, as well as to enable pastoralist communities exercise their right to vote. During the discussion, explanation was given on how voter registration can take place in pastoral areas as well as in the areas of displaced people.

A discussion was also held on how voter registration and election day will be handled in a special way, and how to determine the number of voters (700 voters) at one polling station.

National Electoral Board of Ethiopia