The authorities in Mozambique have registered over 8 million voters for the local elections scheduled for 11 October in the country, the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), which oversees official polling in the country, announced on Tuesday.
“After 45 days of voter registration … we have an overall completion of 84.91 percent,” said STAE spokeswoman Regina Matsinhe, cited by the local press.
Preliminary figures showed that a total of 8,387,583 voters had been registered, out of the 10 million expected, in a process that took place between 20 April and 3 June.
The provinces of Cabo Delgado, Gaza and Manica registered the highest number of voters, according to STAE, which added that from Monday until Thursday the process of checking data was underway at polling stations.
“If a citizen has detected a mistake on his or her voter card, he or she can go to the polling station to request that it be corrected,” explained Matsinhe.
The voter registration process in Mozambique was marked by complaints, accusations of irregularities by opposition parties and some non-governmental organisations in the country, as well as the suspension of some officials alleged to be responsible for criminal acts in the process.
Despite complaints from the two opposition parties with seats in parliament, Renamo and the MDM – which had asked for more days of registration – the National Elections Commission (CNE) on Saturday announced that the total number of voters registered was sufficient to hold credible elections.
In the 2018 municipal elections, Mozambique’s governing Frelimo party – which has been in power at the national level since independence – won in 44 of the 53 municipalities; Renamo, the main opposition party nationally, won in eight; and the MDM came top in one city, Beira.
Lusa