NEBE Holds Consultation with Media and CSOs on the Draft of 7th General Election Timetable
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), on October 27, 2025, held consultation meeting with the media and civil society organizations (CSOs) regarding the draft of the 7th General Election timetable. During the consultation, which took place in the presence of the five members of the Board, opening remarks were made by Chairperson Melatwork Hailu. In her opening remarks, she stated that in the previous week, the Board had been holding consultations with political parties and CSOs involved in voter education and had gathered input on the timetable while also accrediting the CSOs. She emphasized that this consultation with the media and the CSOs aimed to incorporate inputs from stakeholders and ensure a free, fair, and participatory approach of the NEBE by holding similar consultations before every event and activity of the Board.
Following the opening remarks, the head of the Board’s Operations Department, Biruk Wondwossen, presented what the Board has been doing during this pre-election season and briefed on what the timetable incorporates. While expressing their appreciation for the Board’s initiative to consult stakeholders, particularly the media, and for conducting user testing by inviting members of disability associations, especially those that work on visual impairment, the participants also expressed their concerns about the need for continuity of voter education without time limit, peace and security, and other related matters. In response to the participants’ feedback and concerns, the Board Chairperson stated that the Board placed voter education on the timetable to stress that the time frame in the schedule is to emphasis on the thematic area of voter registration and voting. Further, she noted that voter education is not bound by time and is not solely the responsibility of CSOs, the role of the media is also indispensable. In her closing remarks, she highlighted that technology will be applied only for the registration of voters and candidates, while voting will continue to be conducted manually.
Regarding peace and security, Melat noted that the Board will collect information from government security offices and stakeholders on contemporary security issues and set up consultations with them. “The Board’s monitoring team will undertake real-time participatory on-ground monitoring and conduct risk assessments,” she said. There are additional branch offices the Board has opened to enhance reachability and efficiency, she added.
The Board has launched a temporary election officers’ vacancy announcement for consistency level positions on October 27, 2025.
