In Maputo, many people registered to vote on the last day of the process. Some did not go to the registration post until after 10pm, forcing brigades to close as planned at midnight.
By Saturday evening, potential voters were arriving at registration posts in various parts of Maputo City. This was a last-minute demand from citizens who had not registered since the beginning of the process.
The Maputo City Elections Commission says the number of registered voters is satisfactory. The chairperson of the commission said that by Friday, 82 percent of those expected to register had done so, and that 85 percent were expected to do so by the end of the process on Saturday.
Citizens interviewed by “O País” claimed schedule overload for having failed to register in the previous days.
The brigades complied with the National Election Commission’s guidelines to close the posts at midnight in places where there were still people to be registered.
Prior to the weekend, the National Election Commission (CNE) and the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) extended the voter registration process. For the last two days of the process, attendance was extended to 10 p.m. on Friday and to midnight on Saturday.
In fact, the electoral bodies announced an extension of the registration hours to respond to the floods. According to reports, many citizens were sleeping outside in order to secure a place in the queues and to get their voter cards.
That is why Renamo accused the electoral bodies of sabotaging voter registration. CNE vice-president Fernando Mazanga said that Renamo members in that body could not see what was happening during voter registration.
Some civil society organisations have claimed in the past month that the electoral bodies are favouring the ruling Frelimo party. Non-governmental organisations say there are manipulation schemes. In turn, the electoral authorities denied the accusations.
O País
