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Tag: Vote

  • Sierra Leonean NEC advises Nigerians on whom to vote for in 2019

    Sierra Leonean NEC advises Nigerians on whom to vote for in 2019

    Mrs Miatta French, Electoral Commissioner, National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Sierra Leone, on Thursday urged Nigerians to, in spite of politicians’ inducements, vote according to their consciences in 2019 elections.

    French was in Abuja at the instance of Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA), for “Watch the Vote Discussion’’ on lessons from Sierra Leone experiences in the just-concluded general elections in that country.

    According to her, the African population is becoming very smart to the point of knowing credible leaders that will bring positive change above enticing freebies they share during elections.

    “Sierra Leone witnessed an interesting trend in the just-concluded elections where, though people were offered money, they still voted for their consciences, and that was very clear in that this election.

    “People have become extremely smart and it showed in the election because if anybody had told the ruling party that they would lose the election based on the size of their rallies, they would have said it was not possible.

    “So, now we know that politicians can give people the money if they want to but it won’t translate to vote for them and that is a good one because it is stalling vote buying,’’ she said.

    French also advised Nigerian public servants against partisanship, saying that the Sierra Leonean NEC observed during the recent elections that such acts affected the commitment of the public workers to their duties.

    She said that most times, public servants complained of being marginalized or removed from their duty post after election because they did not belong to the ruling party.

    The commissioner, however, said that this could be avoided if public servants learnt to be neutral in political matters and during political parties’ campaigns.

    “Our public service has not learnt the discipline of not going along with campaigns; so, they always feel rejected by the opposition party.

    “Quite honestly, if I am coming into an office and there are 25 of you but 20 were on another party’s train while campaigns were going on, I will not be comfortable having you around; that is normal.

    “So, I think that we need to work as public officials not to take up a party position though we can go and vote,’’ she said.

    Also speaking, Executive Director of YIAGA, Mr Samson Itodo, said that the event was to enhance stakeholders’ engagement which was critical for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to him, an impartial electoral commission is the determining factor in the credibility of elections.

    Itodo said that African elections were taking a new turn, adding that “what we have consistently seen is that incumbents are beginning to interfere with electoral commissions.

    “We recall there was internet shutdown in Sierra Leone and it was simply just an attempt to undermine the electoral commission from using technology to transmit results.

    “We have also seen where political parties do not play the game by the rule, especially in the conduct of their affairs or even in complying with basic rules as simple as not declaring results before the electoral commission actually declares it.

    “There are key lessons that the weakest link in our electoral process is our results tallying and collation process and it is important for us as Nigerians to work on that as we match towards 2019,’’ he said.

    Itodo urged INEC and other stakeholders to discuss and agree on modality of how results should be transmitted in a way that would be in tandem with the principles of openness, transparency and accountability.

    He commended INEC’s plan to transmit results electronically in 2019, noting that increasingly, technology was playing a critical role in elections.

    The director said that use of technology in elections was good, and that he extent it would be deployed in Nigeria would guarantee the trust and confidence of citizens.

    He said that Nigerians were waiting for INEC to unveil its plan and strategy for deploying technology for the collation of results.

    He, however, warned that if the application of technology did not in any way subscribe to the principle of openness and accountability, elections’ results would be contested.

    Also speaking, Mr Raouf Salami, Program Officer at ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions, said that one of the challenges of the Sierra Leone elections was low civic education which translated to invalid votes.

    Salami said that this was avoidable with proper awareness and urged Nigeria to work on that ahead of 2019.

  • Liberians ready to pick next president after delays in run-off vote

    Liberians will go to the polls on Tuesday for the presidential runoff vote that pits former international footballer George Weah against incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai.

    Weah, representing the Coalition for Democratic Change, won 38.8 per cent of votes in the Oct. 10 first round, while Boakai came in second place with 28.8 per cent.

    There was then a delay in the run-off, initially scheduled for Nov. 7, after the party of a third candidate filed a complaint alleging “massive fraud and irregularities.”

    However, the Supreme Court ultimately cleared the way for the vote to go ahead on Dec. 26.

    The polls are expected to mark the first time in 73 years that a democratically elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is peacefully handing over power to a successor chosen by the people.

    The last peaceful transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents took place in Liberia in 1944, when former President Edwin Barclay handed over to William Tubman.

    Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and continues to struggle with the aftermath of the 2013 to 2015 Ebola crisis, which killed more than 4,000 people nationwide.

    There are roughly 2.2 million registered voters in the country of 4.1 million.

    Boosting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption were high on the agenda of both candidates’ campaigns.

    The 72-year-old Boakai, a former agriculture minister and World Bank consultant, is pledging to prioritise infrastructure development – with a focus on road construction – to open Liberia up to regional and international trade.

    His 12 years as vice president, as well as his experience of working in various economic sectors, are expected to gain Boakai many votes.

    His main rival is retired striker Weah, who is promising to ignite economic recovery by fighting widespread corruption.

    The 51-year-old senator, who lost against Johnson Sirleaf in the 2005 polls, is often described as an idol by Liberians and highly regarded for his down-to-earth attitude.

    Weah was born in a slum in the capital, Monrovia, and worked as a switchboard technician at the national telecommunications company before gaining football fame.

    Regardless of who takes over, he has big shoes to fill.

    Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with her compatriot Leymah Gbowee and pro-democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.

    Sirleaf, 72, is often dubbed the “Iron Lady” and will retire after two six-year terms.

    Liberia, a country founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, has had a turbulent history, with a brutal civil war that claimed more than 250,000 lives and displaced about a million people.

    The war, which was notorious for its use of child soldiers, ended in 2003, and former warlord and president Charles Taylor has since been sentenced to 50 years in prison by The Hague for war crimes.

    His ex-wife, Jewel Howard-Taylor, is footballer Weah’s unlikely running mate.

    In a statement in November, the U.S. embassy in Monrovia urged that the run-off election be allowed to go ahead unimpeded.

    “The Liberian people and the international community have worked too hard and invested too much to watch Liberia’s progress stall,” the U.S. said.

     

  • Atiku free to make speech at convention but won’t be allowed to vote – PDP

    Atiku free to make speech at convention but won’t be allowed to vote – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who returned to the party on Sunday will be permitted to give a speech at the December 9 convention but won’t be able to vote.

    The party’s convention is scheduled to hold at the Eagles Square in Abuja.

    The party said the provision of the Constitution that deals with new entrants into the party.

    Spokesperson for the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who spoke with journalists at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, said the party’s constitution should be used as a guide on the issue.

    Adeyeye said, “All you need to do is pick up the constitution of the party and see whether Atiku is qualified to vote or not.”

    When pressed further, he said, “First of all, I can tell you that we are happy with Atiku coming back to the PDP. It is very exciting for all of us. It is a good omen to everybody in the PDP.

    “He was one of the founding fathers, one of those who built this party and he is coming back home. His room was never occupied, so we have opened it for him.

    “He will be part of this convention. He will even make a speech at the convention, but he may not be voting at the convention.”

    Chapter 2 (Part 1) of the party’s constitution deals with admission of members into the party.

    On procedure for rejoining, sections 8 and 9 explain, ” A person who desires to rejoin the party after leaving it shall –

    (a) apply to his Ward Secretary for re-admission; and

    (b) unless given waiver by the National Working Committee, be placed on probation for a period of not less than one year.

    (9) Subject to the provision of Section 8(b), a member on probation shall have the right to attend all meetings of the party, but shall not be entitled to vote at such meetings, nor shall he be eligible to contest for elective office on the platform of the party. ”

     

  • Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says it is making arrangements with the Nigeria Prisons Service to ensure that prisoners are allowed to vote in the 2019 general elections.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a dialogue session with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue – a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in Nigeria.

    The development comes three years after a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, ruled that prisoners in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.

    The INEC boss said the commission was looking at the possibility of creating polling units in Nigerian prisons to allow some categories of inmates to vote.

    He, however, said certain categories of prisoners would not be allowed to vote depending on the nature of the crimes they committed.

    Yakubu said, “We have already engaged the Comptroller-General of Prisons and we have statistics on the number of prisoners nationwide and the number of inmates that are registered. We are looking at the possibility of creating polling units in the prisons and to enable some categories of prisoners to vote.

    “Ghana does it but there are some categories of prisoners who by the nature of crimes committed lose the right to vote. Whatever we can do to open up the process to ensure that as much as possible Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote, will be done.”

    Also speaking on the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, the INEC boss said the commission would do everything to ensure that the election is not inconclusive.

    Yakubu raised the alarm over the wrongful substitution of names of governorship candidates by two political parties ahead of the governorship election.

    He regretted that the high level of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the political parties was threatening the electoral system.

    Although the INEC boss declined to name the parties involved in the wrongful substitution of candidates’ names, he warned that if the act was eventually challenged in court, the whole election could be voided on that account and the nation made to bear the financial brunt of conducting a fresh election.

    The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and Convener of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the event was organised to find out the commission’s preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship poll as well as other elections update.

  • No pay, no voting for you, ex-LG Chiefs tell Obiano

    Former Deputy Chairmen of Local Government Areas in Anambra State on Saturday threatened the reelection bid of the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano.

    They said they would reconsider their support for the governor if the arrears of their entitlements totaling about N80m were not paid before the November 18 governorship election in the state.

    Rising from a meeting in Awka, the state capital, on Saturday, the council chiefs said the debts included wardrobe allowances, 28-day hotel claims, furniture allowances and salary differentials for two years they served.

    Speaking through their leaders Messrs Chuks Obiwelozo and Emmanuel Enwerem, under the aegis of Deputy Chairmen’s Forum, they alleged that former local government chairmen and councilors who served with them had long been paid such entitlements.

    They said each of them would be entitled to about N4m, adding that they were 20 in number.

    “We are 20 in number across Anambra north, central and south senatorial districts of the state; and we have siblings, children, parents, friends and well wishers.

    “We want the governor to know what is going on; we are suffering and this is adversely affecting our families.

    “And we want him to know that this is election period. We can’t go into that election in empty stomachs.

    “The governor is a good person, but some of his aides are blocking us from seeing him and lodging our complaints. There’s communication gap and we are not happy about it”.

    They said when their tenure ended about a year ago, they were paid N2.5m each in two installments in that respect from their total due of back pay of about N6m.

    “Our protest is not against the governor, but it’s clear and natural that hungry people cannot be expected to participate effectively in any electoral process. We want the governor to hear this and pay us so that we can be part of the electioneering”.

    They alleged that the Chairman of Local Government/State Joint Account Committee, Mr Tony Olih, was frustrating their payment.

    When contacted, Olih said the state government was not owing former council chiefs as alleged.

    He said the Anambra State Government had settled the council ex-workers as stipulated in their letters of engagement, expressing surprise at the claims of the former council chiefs.

    He said, ‘‘What you people should consider is whether the contents of the appointment letters were fulfilled or not. Their appointment letters were clear and they accepted them, so why return now after they had served out their tenures to complain?”

    He said during their meeting with the deputies, the government had placed its cards on the table and told them what it could afford and it was agreed that payment would best be staggered, and that was government did.

  • Don’t complain against government if you didn’t vote – Remi Tinubu tells voters

    Sen. Oluremi Tinubu on Saturday said that eligible voters in Lagos State who did not cast their votes in the local government elections would not be justified to complain against local councils.

    Oluremi, representing Lagos Central, said this in Lagos in an interview with journalists in her residence in Bourdillon, Ikoyi.

    The wife of a former Governor of the State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bola Tinubu, spoke with newsmen after casting her vote.

    “This is the time to show solidarity for the government; we believe that this government is working; this is the time that everybody should perform his/her civic duty,’’ she said.

    The senator said that voting was a way to hold governments accountable.

    “It is not for you but for your generation yet unborn so that things can be put in place.

    “We have set the standard in Lagos; every elected candidate does not have any choice but to work,’’ she said.

    She said that she had been working as a people’s representative for the past six years and would continue to do so till the end of her tenure.

    Mrs Tinubu commended the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) for efforts in conducting the polls.

    “LASIEC has done well; security personnel are on ground ensuring that there is peace and order.’’

    Also, the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mr Tunji Bello, who voted at Ward E, Olonade Street, Yaba LGA, commended voters who turned out in spite of the downpour.

    “Voters have shown support for democracy by coming to vote in spite of the rain.

    “Starting the election behind schedule is understandable due to the downpour; it is impressive.

    “I believe that APC will carry the day,’’ he said.

    Mr Jide Jimoh, representing Lagos Mainland in the House of Representatives, told journalists that the elections had been peaceful.

    “The election process is fantastic so far, and I commend the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for that.

    “I won’t want to make any judgment on LASIEC because we are just starting. Taking off does not matter; it is landing that is the most important thing.

    “We have taken off; at the end of the day, we will see the result. I expect a positive result,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Time for a citizens’ commission defending our right to vote by Jesse Jackson

    Time for a citizens’ commission defending our right to vote by Jesse Jackson

    By Jesse Jackson

    Donald Trump’s commission on “election integrity” is meeting sensible resistance.

    The commission issued letters calling on states to provide it with extensive personal information on all voters, including names, addresses, birthdates, party affiliation, the last four digits Social Security numbers, military status and criminal records. This data collection would be targeted by every cyber thief in the world.

    At least 20 states have already indicated that they would not comply completely, including California, New York, Texas and more.

    Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, said his reply would be: “They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from.” Hosemann said, “Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.”

    The president’s commission is founded on a lie and perpetuates a fraud. The lie was Trump’s whopper that he would have won the popular vote if 3million to 5 million voters hadn’t voted fraudulently. There is no, literally no, evidence that anyone of any political stripe can find to back up that lie. In fact, fraudulent voting in the United States is rare, isolated and insignificant.

    The commission is perpetuating a fraud because it wants to use fears about voter fraud to suppress voting — to make it harder to register and vote, particularly for working and poor people. The commission is run by its vice-chair, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. He is notorious for his crusade to push voter suppression laws, as well as to feed fears about illegal immigration.

    The commission is set up to push the new Jim Crow voting laws, which require picture ID’s, curtail early voting, cut back on voting booths, permit no Sunday voting, repeal automatic or motor-voter registration and more. Its posturing about voter fraud is the fraud. The real aim is to make it harder to vote, with impediments that disproportionately impact people of color.

    In reality, voter suppression had a real and direct impact on the 2016 election — a far greater impact than the handful of isolated incorrect or “fraudulent” votes cast, or the hacking allegedly masterminded by Vladimir Putin. The 2016 election was the first without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Fourteen states — including swing states like Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina — had new voter restrictions in place.

    In Wisconsin, Trump won by 27,000 votes, but an unknown and likely quite large number of eligible voters lacked the newly required forms of ID. (A federal judge ruling in a lawsuit against the state’s voter ID law in 2014 put the number at 300,000.) Turnout in 2016 was the lowest in decades, particularly in Milwaukee, home of 70 percent of the state’s African-Americans. In North Carolina, even after a federal court overturned the state’s anti-voter measures for targeting African-Americans “with almost surgical precision,” Republican officials cut back hours and closed polling places. Early black voting turnout plummeted, according to the Nation, as the 40 counties with the largest African-American populations were allocated 158 fewer polling places.

    Voter suppression works. And so does voter empowerment. As the Nation also reported, Oregon enacted automatic voter registration, which added 250,000 new voters to the rolls. An impressive 79 percent of registered voters turned out in 2016.

    We do not need a commission to investigate Donald Trump’s fantastical excuse for losing the popular vote. We need a commission to investigate the reality of voter suppression — and how to make voting easier, not harder. That agenda would include automatic voter registration, longer early voting, an election day holiday, more polling places, hand-counted ballots to avoid cyber threats and more.

    Both Trump and the Republican Congress are more interested in raising barriers to voting than in lowering them. Democrats would be well advised to create their own independent commission, staffed with the best experts in the nation, to lay out a serious plan to end voter suppression and empower people to vote. Voting is the essential right in a democracy. It needs to be protected, not suppressed.

     

  • Germany makes history, legalises same-sex marriage

    Germany made history on Friday after its lawmakers in support of same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the country to join more other European nations — including Ireland, France and Spain — in legalizing such unions.

    Just a few days after Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped her opposition to a vote, a clear majority of German MPs have voted to legalise same-sex marriage giving gay couples full marital rights, and allows them to adopt children.

    Mrs Merkel’s political opponents were strongly in favour. But the chancellor, who signalled her backing for a free vote only on Monday, voted against .

    The bill was backed by a total of 393 lawmakers, 226 voted against and four indifferent.

    The German legal code will now read: “Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex”, AFP news agency reported.

    Following Friday’s vote, Mrs Merkel said that for her marriage was between a man and a woman. But she said she hoped the passing of the bill would lead to more “social cohesion and peace”.

    How it all happened

    During her 2013 election campaign, Mrs Merkel argued against gay marriage on the grounds of “children’s welfare,” and admitted that she had a “hard time” with the issue.

    But in an on-stage interview with the women’s magazine Brigitte on 26 June, she shocked the German media by saying, in response to an audience member’s question, that she had noted other parties’ support for gay marriage, and would allow a free vote at an unspecified time in the future.

    The usually cautious chancellor said she had had a “life-changing experience” in her home constituency, where she had dinner with a lesbian couple who cared for eight foster children together.

    As the news spread on Twitter, supporters rallied under the hashtag #EheFuerAlle (MarriageForAll) – and started calling for a vote as soon as possible.

    Mrs Merkel’s current coalition partners – the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who are trailing Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in opinion polls – then seized the political initiative.

    They called for a vote by the time parliament went into summer recess at the end of the week – prompting Mrs Merkel to complain she’d been “ambushed”.

     

  • 2019: Vote your president out if he performed below expectation – Ooni tells Nigerians

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has said the Nigerian electorates have the powers to vote out any the president or leader who performed below their expectations in office.

    The Ooni stated this in an interview with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show.

    Oba Adeyeye noted that until Nigerians realise the powers they carry, politicians will continue to take them for granted

    In his words: “If you are not happy with your president, you go for another election, and you will vote your president out. If you are happy with your president, you will continue with that government for them to be in power.

    “Truth be told, we Nigerians don’t know our power yet. We don’t know our voting power, yet. Until we know it, we won’t stop complaining, especially the youth. Once we know it, we won’t complain again.

    “My school of thought is let us, first of all, organise ourselves and let us talk positively about this country. Let us stop derogatory, hate speeches. Things that will continue to divide everybody further.”

  • ‘Boycott sex until your man registers to vote’

    A Kenyan opposition MP has urged fellow women to impose a sex boycott until their men register to vote in August’s general election.

    Mishi Mboko, who is married, said women should withhold sex until their menfolk present their credentials in the form of a valid voter ID card.

    “Women, if your husband has not been registered as a voter, you deny him a little and tell him to go get registered and then come back and enjoy the game,” she said.

    The parliamentarian was speaking in the coastal city of Mombasa on Monday at the start of a month-long nationwide drive to register millions of new voters ahead of the August 8 polls.

    She said sex was a powerful motivator and that registering in large numbers was the opposition’s best bet for beating the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta on Election Day.

    In a similar initiative, motorcycle taxis — known as boda-boda — in the western port city of Kisumu, are refusing to carry passengers without voter IDs.

    “There will be no rider to carry passengers from here if he is not registered as a voter,” said Joseph Owiti, chairman of the Kisumu Boda-Boda association.

    “This election is about numbers, it is the numbers that will win, and numbers cannot just come by talking, it is about people registering as voters. That is why we are mobilising our people.”

    Kenyan authorities estimate some four to six million voters have yet to register, crucial numbers that could swing the result.

    – Carnal boycotts –

    In 2009 Kenyan women launched a week-long sex strike in order to protest infighting in the then unity government and force political leaders to work together for the common good.

    Similar carnal boycotts have been employed by women across the globe seeking to effect change or make a point, however it is unclear how much they really work.

    In 2002 Liberian Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee organised a sex strike in a bid to halt the war in her country.

    Belgian women called for a sex strike and shaving boycott to force politicians to form a government in 2011, and Colombian women likewise in 2006 staged a strike “of crossed legs” to press gangsters to give up their guns.

    In 2014 a group of Ukrainian women started a campaign called “Don’t give it to a Russian,” to protest the annexation of Crimea.

    And in ancient Greece, Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata sees women boycotting the marital bed to end the Peloponnesian war.