Times Of Swaziland: ‘600 000 voters not our target’

‘600 000 voters not our target’
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BY LUNGA MASUKU on 25/05/2013 02:42:00


MBABANE – Close to 90 000 people had registered by Thursday afternoon
according to Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Deputy Chairman Mzwandile
Fakudze.
The exact figure stood at 89 990 by Thursday afternoon.
Asked if at the rate the voting figures looked, would they be able to achieve
and have 600 000 people registered in the remaining four weeks of the
registration process.
According to the figures released which reflected that 89 990 had registered,
mathematically it means 44 995 had registered in the two since the registration
process started.
If the process is to last over six weeks and 44 995 were registering each week
then it means in six weeks 269 970 would have registered.
Fakudze said it was wrong for people to say the EBC was expecting 600 000 people
to have registered to vote but they were basing their estimate on the number of
people eligible to vote.
“Any person who is above the age of 18 is eligible to vote or be voted for. We
are basing our estimate on the country’s statistics. It is normal practise
when a country talks of eligible voters expected and allowed to vote,” said
Fakudze.
Registered
Speaking to Swazi News yesterday, Fakudze said they never said they were
expecting 600 000 registered voters but the number of people who would
participate during elections could be less than that.
He said the registration process was on track and said they were happy with the
response from the members of the public who have turned up in numbers to
register for the upcoming national elections.
The total number of people who had registered to vote or be voted for, as of
Thursday stood at 89 990. These figures were from May 13, 2013.