Cameroon’s elections governing body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), will in 2012 organise the expected parliamentary and council elections in the country. This will be the second time ELECAM will be organizing elections after the October 9, 2011 presidential election in which 23 candidates contested.
The electoral law states that registration on the electoral register begins on January 1 every year and ends on August 31. This means that Cameroonians who have attained the voting age of 20 years and those who did not register for the October 9, 2011 presidential election will have to begin enrolling in the electoral register from January. The Director General of Elections in ELECAM, Mohaman Sani Tanimou in a press release disclosed that the revision of voters’ registers will begin on Thursday, January 5, 2012. The process will take place in ELECAM Council Branch offices and also carried out by Joint Voters Registration Commissions.
“We need to consolidate the national voter roll in preparation to begin the revision of those lists come January 2012,” the Electoral Board Chairman of ELECAM, Dr Fonkam Azu’u Samuel said in a recent interview to Cameroon Tribune, adding that, “You know, next year, all things being equal, there will be twin council and parliamentary elections. These are local elections and all politics they say, is local. Interests are localized and multiplied.”
Consequently, preparations are intensifying at all levels within ELECAM to ensure hitch-free 2012 elections. “We have learned a few lessons from the October 9 presidential election”, Fonkam Azu’u said, re-stating the preparedness of the ELECAM to correct the organisational lapses of the presidential election in upcoming elections. ELECAM will have to handle cases of double registration, delete the names of dead people and ensure an efficient distribution of voters’ cards. ELECAM officials say they are currently cleaning the voters registers used in the October 9, 2011 presidential election in readiness for the updating of the registers. ELECAM officials will also be working to get acceptable indelible ink and device methods of educating voters on how to use it.
Political party leaders whose parties will be vying for seats in the National Assembly and different councils in the country have to get back to work, convincing their supporters to register and get involved in all the electoral processes. The Joint Voters Registration Commissions that by law will also be in charge of establishing and distributing voters’ cards also has to work.
