APP may decide to not accept election results after EVM missing

Vincent Kanyetu

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) says the stolen Electoral Voting Machine (EVM) in the Kavango East Region is not one of the machines used in the election, but was used for voter education.
Chairperson of ECN, Nothemba Tjipueja cleared the air on this issue during a media briefing held in Windhoek on Friday.
According to her, the missing EVM has not affected the election process at any of the polling stations in Kavango East.
All People’s Party (APP) member, Vincent Kanyetu said he was disappointed in the commission for not communicating on time to various political parties that an EVM had gone missing.
Kanyetu told Nampa on Thursday his party first picked up the information as a rumour from community members and to confirm their suspicions, he decided to approach the police at Rundu as well as the ECN Regional Coordinator for Kavango East Region, Protasius Ihemba.
Both Ihemba and the police confirmed that a ballot unit had been reported stolen.
The missing ballot unit, with the serial number BEL – BU – E05811, was reported as missing to the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in Rundu by voter education officer Rosvita Siunze on Monday.
According to a police statement in Nampa’s possession, the ballot unit went missing or was stolen in the visitors’ parking lot at the Rundu State Hospital where Siunze went to visit her sick mother in hospital.
News of the missing EVM also did not sit well with the APP Election Coordinator, Maria Kamtali, who told Nampa on Thursday that her party could decide not to accept the election results as this machine could be used to rig the 2015 Regional Council and Local Authority Elections.
This could also ruin the party's chances of winning in the Mashare, Rundu Rural and Ncuncuni constituencies, which according to her, are the stronghold of the party.
In response, ECN Director of Elections Paul Isaak in a telephonic interview with Nampa on Friday echoed the same sentiments as Tjipueja, saying that particular EVM was under the custody of the voter education officer and is not part of those used in the elections.
“The EVM was used for voter education, for demonstration purposes. And in no way was it used for election purposes today. Thus, the machine has no bearing whatsoever on the elections,” he said.
-Nampa