Special registration period begins tomorrow

THE CONTROVERSIAL special 15-day voters registration period begins tomorrow.

This period, which ends on October 24, allows for persons who are eligible for their first identification card to be registered, or for those who wish to be transferred from one constituency to another to have that done.

The special voters registration period has been controversial, and when the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM) presented its report after the December 7, 2005 elections, it made eleven recommendations, one of which was that the 15-day special registration period be abolished.

According to the report, the recommendation was made because this period “has serious implications for the conduct of free

and fair elections. It does not provide any safeguards for checks and balances, as to who is registered in this period.”

The NMCM was of the opinion then that registration of voters should be continuous, and that “concerted efforts need to be made for persons to become registered on attainment of the age of 18.”

This process, they feel, “should form an integral part of the programme of the Supervisor of Elections.”