FAQ

Answer: The National Electoral Board had a series of meetings with political parties before the timetable was announced. After the consultations, two main issues that could pose challenges were identified. The first one was the challenge the parties are facing that prevents them from moving freely in regions, and second was the security situation in different parts of the country. Based on this assessment, the Board undertook two major tasks to go around the loopholes. One of them is the preparation of an election security plan by the government. During the preparation of the plan, the Board participates to ensure that the plan includes technical information and conditions regarding the election. The second response was setting up a tripartite platform to solve the problems in different regions that were pointed out by parties. Accordingly, tripartite talks have begun to address the problems political parties had spotted. The discussions are held in three regions so far. The ruling party, the regional parties, and the Board dealt with the complaints that were noted by parties and effort is exerted to reach an agreement on possible solutions. The Board believes that these practices will help solve existing problems.

Answer: The constituencies where the electorate cast vote for regional and national councils are different. Therefore, doing both at the same time would create confusion for voters. Election officials count the ballots and would send the result to the relevant constituency. In Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, they count the ballots for different councils and would send the result to two or three constituencies. Reporting to different constituencies could open the door for errors in ballots counting and makes the election administration difficult. Moreover, election officials need to receive special training on counting and reporting results if they have to prepare them for different constituencies. That would increase the pressure on operations and it also needs preparing special result scoring papers and giving additional training to election officials.

Answer: The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) is currently working in shifts while implementing social distancing in case of tasks that need to be done collectively and with most of its staff working from home. It will continue to carry out activities that will increase the readiness of the Board's ability to conduct the election properly when the situation returns to normal. Accordingly, it is collecting information on the digital communication of political parties. It also tries to make the communication with the parties as digital as possible.

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: Conducting the referendum of Southwest Ethiopia side by side with the national election makes it much easier and less expensive. As the Board is preparing for the national election, there is not enough time to organize a referendum in advance. In addition, conducting the referendum alongside the national election reduces expenditure that is required to arrange the event by half. Furthermore, the election administration task will be facilitated as the Board can give additional training to election officials on referendum management while coaching them for the national election. Similarly, by printing additional referendum ballot papers for and monitoring voters’ registration process, it will be easier for the board to conduct the referendum.

After the 6th General Election, NEBE conducted a comprehensive lessons-learned exercise with stakeholders to identify areas for improvement. One of the key recommendations was the modernization of the voter registration system. Recognizing the need to modernize and catch up with global and regional standards, NEBE committed to developing a digital voter registration system using its internal technical capacity. Although Ethiopia has lagged behind many African countries such as Kenya in adopting election technologies, NEBE has taken deliberate steps to close this gap. Developed by NEBE’s internal experts, the system has been repeatedly tested and improved based on stakeholder feedback to ensure it is user-friendly and reliable. Introducing it ahead of the 7th General Election allows NEBE to achieve full operational readiness and gives voters time to understand and use the new process effectively. The rollout will begin in areas with the necessary infrastructure, such as reliable internet connectivity.

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.

Answer: Election officials report only for one constituency. This will prevent an occurrence of errors in counting the result; voters can cast their ballots without any confusion; election observers and journalists as well as party representatives can monitor the election process using their full potential (without scattering their workforce), and they can also verify credibility of the election.

Answer: Recognizing that there is a short time for parties to have their candidates registered, and based on the appeal that signatures collection in the time of COVID-19 epidemic is risky, the Board requested the House of Representatives to exempt parties of this task only for the 6th general election. Though some concerned individuals were asking why the board did not take into consideration the current situation of Covid and the signature collection by parties, the deadline for founding members’ signature collection ended before the epidemic reached in Ethiopia. Thus, it has to be remembered that the time of signatures collection and the Covid pandemic were not related.

Answer: In order to reduce the use of public resources for political party work, which has been the subject of much controversy in the past, the purpose of distancing government employees from their workplace if they are running for office is to separate political party work from government work. The first draft stated that government employees would temporarily quit their jobs without benefits, but based on input from political parties, it was amended to allow civil servants to use their annual leave for up to two years. As a result, the law stipulates that they must not be present at work, even if they receive a salary when they use their annual leave. The law states that a candidate must return to work after running in an election and that his or her benefits must be protected. In addition to the government's support for political parties, parties that field government employees for election have also been added to the criteria. It should be noted, however, that the main purpose of the provision is to ensure that public resources are not used for party purposes.

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: A person can register as a voter after confirming that he/she is a resident in the area of the polling station. Once a person meets this requirement, then he/she should obtain a voter registration card. In case there arises a suspicion that a voter who is not a resident of the locality has been registered, there is a mechanism to sort out the issue. After voter registration is over there will be a 10 days’ time when voters’ registration roster will be open for checking by anyone. Political parties, observers, and civil society organizations can file a complaint. On top of that, voters list is kept in a central database, and the process is in place to identify double voter registration with the help of technology. Thus, the separation of voting dates does not affect the reliability of election, instead it will increase it.

NEBE is introducing Ethiopia’s first-ever mobile and web-based VSR and ARS system to modernize the country’s voter registration process. The digital system is designed to improve accuracy, reduce administrative workload, and increase accessibility for all eligible voters. By enabling citizens to register themselves or receive assistance using digital tools, the system helps minimize long queues, reduce registration errors, and ease logistical challenges. It also helps prevent illegal attempts at duplicate or second-time registrations. Most importantly, the VSR and ARS system allows citizens in both urban and rural areas to begin the registration process anytime and from anywhere, supporting inclusive participation and laying the foundation for a permanent, reliable, and accurate rolling voter registration system in Ethiopia.

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 Board had notified councils of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa cities that their voting day will be separate from the national calendar. This is because federal and regional constituencies are separate from each other. Constituencies of city administrations/ regions are decided by the cities or regions themselves, and the Board administers election in constituencies that were determined by the states/city administrations. For example, during the 2005 election, the constituencies from which nominations were made for Addis Ababa City Administration council and the House of Representatives were the same. And ballot counting for the two councils was done side by side. Hence, election officials report the results to the same constituency. However, at the 2008 city council elections, the city government changed the constituencies and formed sub-cities as constituencies, and elections were conducted accordingly. Then after, elections for the city council and the federal councils were held on separate days. The Dire Dawa city administration, in contrast to the federal seat (higher only by 2 seats), has 47 kebeles in it. These Kebeles are used by the city administration as constituencies, thus when a person gives vote, the constituency ballots are cast for a federal seat and regional seat vary. The variation in constituencies makes ballot counting very difficult. It is recalled that the Dire Dawa city election was held separately from the federation.

Answer: The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia is accountable to the House of Representatives. It submits performance reports to the House of Representatives and has no choice but to notify the House of Representatives of its decision. In accordance with its responsibilities, the Board did not perform any task outside of its jurisdiction or did not neglect any of its responsibilities within its jurisdiction other than submitting the problem to the House of Representatives and making a research-based decision.

Answer: It is known that the previous criteria for candidacy were to be determined by lot according to number (12) and there were many complaints because it is restricting. Therefore, the new draft is intended to lift the restrictions and accommodate all parties and individuals who are seeking to run for office. The person who collects the candidate supporters’ signatures in the constituency will introduce himself/herself to the community in the process and will prepare for the election campaign. It also eliminates the complaint from the voters saying that they will be asked to vote without even knowing who is representing them. It is a process in which candidates and the people they represent are introduced in a transparent manner and bring candidates who take the election process seriously to the ballot paper.

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.