It is known that you are in the process of giving out accreditation badges to party representatives for the general election to be held on Monday, June 21st. Given the short time available, we recommend that you complete the issuance of badges by tomorrow night, June 20, 2021.
National Election Board of Ethiopia
Operations Department
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has been consulting with independent candidates at various times. The Board acknowledged that private candidates needed financial support and decided to give 50,000 ETB to each of them.
The Period of Silence is the time in the pre-election cycle and includes the four days before the election, according to the Ethiopian Electoral Cycle Guidelines. There are some responsibilities that stakeholders like political parties and media institutions need to consider during this Period of Silence.
Political Parties
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) will provide its daily update today, June 15, 2021. Therefore, we would like to inform media organizations meeting the following criteria can register at the De Leopol Hotel, next to Bambis Supermarket at 4pm.
• Being a registered media outlet by the Ethiopian Media Authority
• Must wear the board's special reporter’s hanging badge
• Only two professionals (including photo / video experts) from one media can participate.
National Election Board of Ethiopia
The following rules or guidelines apply at the polling stations or around their entrances For Political Parties
The new VSR and AVR systems are not intended to replace the traditional in-person registration process. Instead, both digital and manual registration methods will operate together and complement each other. Until the necessary infrastructure is fully available across both urban and rural areas, the traditional system will continue to function alongside the digital one. The new system enhances the process; it does not replace the manual approach now.
Answer: Based on past experience, it is to improve the process where nonexistent candidates were being nominated by registering their names only, and it is believed that it will reduce fraud in the registration of party and private candidates.
Answer: It is known that the type of electoral system is determined by the constitution. Therefore, the system of winning the majority is enshrined in the constitution and cannot be repealed by proclamation, so the electoral system in the constitution is kept as it is. Political parties have called for a change in the electoral system, but it could not be changed with a proclamation until the constitution is amended.
Answer: The drafted law obliges the election board to formulate guidelines in order to accommodate political parties that were registered under the previous law. Therefore, political parties that were registered before the latest law is issued will be accommodated in and the Board, in consultation with the parties, will formulate a guideline to help them fulfill the criteria
Answer: The number of signatures national and regional political parties have to collect is not exaggerated when considering the principles behind. Political parties should have good public base and should have strong ties with it, and they must be representative of the populace.
Although the claim of some parties that it is difficult to collect 10,000 signatures due to the prevailing security problem seems convincing, it is better to remember that when a law is passed, it is not for one year only. The law will be a future abiding document hence it is better to be far-sighted.
