National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) presents reports on the 6th National s voters’ registration and related election events to political parties

On February 16, NEBE presented reports on the 6th general election voters’ registration and related events to political parties in the presence of the mass media. The report is based on three agendas, and the Board’s Voters’ Education department staff presented the report on the pre-election and post-election information delivery/provision process. The Board’s Operation Department staff also presented detailed information regarding the operation and logistics flow and the challenges that might be encountered when the Board opens different departments.

Board Chairwoman Birtukan Midekesa presented the general electoral process and what is expected of stakeholders. In her speech, the Chairwoman underlined that regional states have not been providing transport services at the desired level to facilitate logistics movement in different areas and the officials to carry out their activities moving from one office to the other. This will have its own negative impact on the execution of tasks. Hence, as the timely and appropriate cooperation of the government and political parties is vital to the general process and meet the schedule, every stakeholder has to discharge its respective responsibilities. The chairwoman, who underlined the importance of stakeholders in discharging their responsibilities, noted that it shouldn’t be assumed that the responsibility is left on the shoulders of the Board alone

Among the major tasks that received due attention is the digitalization of the Board’s working process; and the Information Technology Department staff of the Board presented briefings about the application of information technology and the challenges encountered. Following the reports, the panel was left for participants. The political parties appreciated the fact that the Board has been asking for and taking into consideration their ideas and comments on the activities it is undertaking and presented the challenges they encountered during candidates’ registration. The Board chairwoman responded to the questions of political parties forwarded in two rounds. She appreciated the fact that the political parties presented their complaints as it is useful for the Board’s working process, to identify the gaps and take actions to resolve them on time. The Board chairwoman responded to the questions that could be addressed on the forum and stressed that the questions and queries should not be limited to the panel and noted that such forums would be organized as the election approaches