Swazi Observer

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OVER 583 000 REGISTER TO VOTE

By SIBONISO NKAMBULE | 2023-06-19

Emaswati have rallied behind the call for participation in this year’s national elections, coming out in their numbers to register.

The exercise has officially closed, with an impressive 89 per cent of the eligible people to vote having registered to vote this year.

In total, by the close of the exercise, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) recorded over 583 000 voters in the voter registration exercise, after a four-day extension.
The massive turnout of eligible citizens saw the figures of registered voters standing at 583 428, slightly short of reaching 590 000 voters.

The EBC had targeted 650 000 voters to register for the 2023 elections.
The Commission is over 60 000 short in the number of targeted voters despite the extension.
Last week, the EBC on the instruction of His Majesty King Mswati III, extended the voter registration, which has accounted for over 57 000 additional voters that were able to take advantage of the deadline extension.

According to statistics released by EBC, female voters continued to take the lead with 312 458 registrations while males are at 270 970.

People with disabilities also surpassed the 21 000 mark as there are 21 906 registrants.
When reviewing the statistics by EBC, on the initial deadline day, a total of 526 075 voters had registered for the elections.

Female voters continued to be in the forefront with 283 736 registrations while males were at 242 339.
People with disabilities had 20 987 registrants.

The statistics highlighted that on the first day of the extension, the numbers stood at 540 636 with female voters leading by 290 978 compared to 249 658 male registered voters.
The statistics revealed that on the second day of the extension, EBC recorded 553,597 voters.

This was a 12 961 increase in the number of voters recorded compared to the previous day.
Female registrants were at 297 760 while male registrants were at 255 837.
People with disabilities stood at 21360.

Adding, moving towards the final day of the registration deadline, 567 973 registrants were recorded by EBC on the third day of the exercise.

EBC statistics revealed that the numbers had increased by over 14 000 voters, taking the number of female voters to 305,008 while males remained at 262,965.

People with disabilities stood at 21,596 which shows a 236 increase in the number of voters.
The registration process will be followed by validation, which begins on June 22 until July 12.
The nomination stage will be held over a period of two days being July 22 and 23. All registered voters will cast their votes on August 26 during primary elections, after the special voting for primary elections.

The secondary elections will be held on September 29, after the special voting for secondary election on September 26. Campaigning will only be allowed from August 27 to September 27.

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