Qs & As
Registration of Voters
…Cloud by the Electoral Commission for the 2019 elections, why should the Electoral Commissioner deny it…?”
* ‘Computers were used in the 2019 elections but the Electoral Commission asserted that were not used for the counting the votes. Why were they there then?’
By Lex
The Electoral Commissioner’s Office is proceeding apace with its canvassing of electors in what must be the most antiquated method available, that is door to door checking of inhabitants at a fixed period in time. There have been numerous allegations that the 2019 exercise have either deprived some 7% of voters of their legitimate rights or, worse still, an unaccounted for 45,000 voters were ditched out of the register instead of 9,900 previously. We have failed to hear from the EC any plausible let alone convincing explanations regarding those serious failings or the controversial use of computer rooms during the 2019 counting process. Lex weighs in.
* According to the Section 4(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1958, only those persons having reached the age of 18 on 15 August in that year, and Commonwealth citizens (having resided in Mauritius for at least two years) are qualified to be registered as electors and to vote. That’s for qualification for registration as voters, but does the law make it an obligation for citizens, qualified by virtue of age, to get themselves registered as electors, and if so what would be the penalty for failure to do so?
There is nothing in the law that makes it an obligation on a citizen of 18 years or more to register as an elector. Just as there is no law that makes voting compulsory at an election. Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 27 May 2022
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