The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), in collaboration with the Media Authority, allocated additional airtime for election campaigns following the June 21, 2021 polling day. Accordingly, political parties can conduct their election campaigns until June 16, 2021. June 17 to June 20 will be a silent period without any campaigns of political parties. The media airtime allocation will also be until June 16.

As per the Government of Ethiopia’s invitation to observe the sixth general elections, NEBE has issued accreditation to the joint International Republic Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) observation mission.

It is to be recalled that the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has set criteria and consulted with political parties for the distribution of funds from the government to political parties. Accordingly, as stated in the directive, the funds are:

It is known that the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has been receiving complaints from political parties about registered candidates. Accordingly, the following are some of the major complaints on which the Board made decisions.

1. The Wolayta National Movement filed a complaint stating that the candidate for Prosperity Party is a Prosecutor in Wolayta Zone. In a letter to Prosperity Party, the Board requested the party to verify whether or not the candidate is currently a prosecutor.

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) stated in a statement released on May 08, 2021 that various political parties in the Somali region have filed a complaint alleging serious irregularities in the voter registration process with supporting evidence. It is to be recalled that the Board decided to temporarily suspend voter registration in seven constituencies believing that they should be investigated.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia has completed the registration of voters for the 6th National Election, but it is known that the registration of late constituencies was underway. Voter registration in delayed constituencies has also been completed.

Accordingly, the followings are places where voter registration was completed on May 21, 2021

It is to be recalled that the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), in accordance with the “Election, Political Parties Registration and Electoral Ethics Proclamation No. 1162/2019” and “Local Election Observation Licensing, Procedures and Ethics Directive No. 5/2020”, advertised for and recruited CSOs interested in participating as observers of the upcoming election and accredited 36 organizations.

It is known that the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced that voter registration for students of higher education institutions will be conducted online. The Board has decided that additional registration time should be given to students of higher education institutions, even though voter registration at the polling stations has been completed.

Accordingly, we recommend that students of higher education institutions register by May 25, 2021 using the following link: https://www.ovrs.gov.et