Youth voter registration lags behind

A lack of interest among Namibia's youth to register to vote for the upcoming elections has raised serious concerns.

During a panel discussion on elections and youth held last week at the International University of Management (IUM), Swapo’s Windhoek East secretary for information, Innocentia Gaos, said the media should do more to encourage youth to register to vote.

“Why are young people not interested in voting? Is it lack of information in terms of what the government is doing, or [is it] just based on what they see on social media or what is being portrayed by the media about the Namibian government?" she asked.

She said the "media does not really highlight the positives of what the government is doing," arguing that government is doing a lot for young people.



Voter education

Gaos said a chief issue is that young people do not understand the power that their vote holds, blaming this on a lack of voter education.

“It should start at home, in communities, and it should also be in schools for young people to understand that their vote can influence decision-making and policies,” she said.

She added that young people make up the majority of the population, and if they do not get involved in democratic processes and politics, decisions will be made on their behalf without their input.



Belonging

At the same event, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Inna Hengari said political parties have failed to foster a sense of belonging among young people.

“We need to find a way in which young people can feel a sense of belonging to a political party,” she said.

Hengari added that Namibia has swing voters because of a lack of reliable and long-term initiatives and programmes targeting the youth. She said the youth view the promised plans as only "temporary."



Concerned

Speaking to The Zone, Lena Scott, a 64-year-old Windhoek resident, said the youth need to step up.

“We will not be here forever; the future changes and plans of this country lie in their hands."

During a visit to Ongos Valley last week, youth minister Agnes Tjongarero encouraged people to register to vote.

"Honestly, as we sit here, how many of us are registered to vote? All of your dreams would come to nothing if we do not register to vote, so before we can dream big, we must register and vote.”



Statistics

According to the most recent Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) statistics on voter registration, 536 202 people registered to vote between 3 and 22 June

Age statistics are currently available for only 318 311 of these voters.

Of these, 118 697 are aged 18 to 35, compared to 199 614 newly registered voters who are older than 35.

In total, about 12.99% of the 913 641 eligible youth voters have registered in the period under review, in comparison to 24.4% of the 818 149 eligible voters above 35 years of age.

Total eligible voters are 1 731 790, according to the national census.

In a telephonic interview with a student who chose to remain anonymous, she said she feels that youth votes do not matter or that the system does not work for young people.

“But we need to realise that change won't happen unless we take action. Our voices are powerful, and voting is one of the ways we can make them heard." said the student.