Madagascar ready to hold elections
ANTANANARIVO. — The president of independent national election commission (CENIT) in Madagascar Atallah Beatrice said on Saturday at a Press conference that all preparations are almost ready to hold the election.The CENIT president said that 7,825,305 voters will vote in 20, 001 polling stations throughout the 119 districts of Madagascar.
A total of 33 candidates will participate in the first round on October 25, and if no candidate secures half of the votes, only two tops will contest in the second round on December 20.
“The electoral cards for voters were already printed after the issue of definitive electoral roll on October 9 and have been distributed since October 10,” the CENIT president said.
Voting materials, including single ballots, already arrived at the 119 districts and will join the polling stations on Oct. 23, Atallah Beatrice said.
“Election officials will soon complete their training,” Atallah Beatrice added.
According to Atallah, more than 4 500 national observers and 500 to 700 international observers, most of whom are already in Madagascar, will monitor the elections.
Strategies to collect the votes are ready so that the CENIT can announce the preliminary results no later than 10 days after the polling date.
The CENIT will use helicopters, cars and motorcycles to collect as quickly as possible the results. To ensure that the risk of electoral fraud for this time will be less, all the ballots used in the election are each unique and traceable by its serial number and other brands, Atallah said.
The CENIT works with the armed forces to insure the safety of polling stations, observers and the electoral materials. — Xinhua
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