Man allegedly casts wrong vote on behalf of another

WRONG BUTTON ... Voters queue up at a polling station in Gobabis for the 2015 Regional Council and Local Authority Elections. A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly casting a vote on behalf of someone else at the Okamatapati fixed polling station. Photo: Nampa

A 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly casting a vote on behalf of someone else at the Okamatapati fixed polling station during the Regional Council and Local Authority Elections.
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)’s Otjozondjupa Regional Coordinator, Faith Matladi confirmed the incident to Nampa in an interview on Saturday – one day after the polls closed.
Matladi said the complainant opened a case against the suspect who he had asked for assistance to cast his vote for the Swapo party. The suspect allegedly instead voted for the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo).
The complainant and the suspect apparently know each other and when they were at the Regional Council voting booth, the complainant asked the suspect to assist him to vote for the Swapo party. The suspect allegedly pressed the button alongside the Nudo candidate and cast the vote.
Matladi said the complainant then immediately alerted both the ECN officials and members of the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) who were working at the Okamatapati polling station.
Okamatapati is situated nearly 100 kilometres east of Okakarara in the Okakarara Constituency of Otjozondjupa Region.
The NamPol Otjozondjupa police chief of operations, Chief Inspector Levi Richter told this news agency on Sunday that the suspect has been arrested and charged with contravening the Electoral Act, Act No 24 of 1992 Section (A) and (B).
The Act prohibits the use of violence or force to compel or induce another person to vote or to refrain from voting in any election. It also prohibits compelling someone to vote or refrain from voting in any election or to vote in favour of a particular party or candidate by way of any fraudulent devices or contrivance.
He said if the accused is found guilty of an offence he or she will on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding N$20 000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or both.
Richter said the case was opened by the complainant himself against the 39-year-old male suspect at the Okamatapati police station under CR 02/11/2015.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Okakarara Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Police investigations into the matter continue.
-Nampa