Information on the on-going voter registration investigation process in the Somali region

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced that it is investigating alleged irregularities in voter registration in 11 constituencies in the Somali region. Accordingly, the Board has invited five civil society organizations to take part in the investigation, and the three associations have appointed lawyers to participate.

The Board has organized 10 (ten) Teams of Investigators (composed of Operations Experts, Legal Experts and Interpreters) and is currently conducting screening in 10 constituencies (except for the Geladin constituency where the Team of Investigators will be deployed in the coming days).

In the investigation process the teams will

• Talk parties which filed the complaints and conduct interviews
• Talk to competing parties in the region
• Conduct interviews with voters in areas where complaints were filed stating that voters were denied registration
• Evaluate the documents and evidence submitted with the complaints
• Review complaints submitted to grievance hearing committees at the polling station and constituency level
• Speak to parties directly or indirectly related to the voter registration complaints. The Board will continue to provide additional information on this process and related issues.

National Election Board of Ethiopia