Voting is required by law to be in secret. Section 40 of the 1997 Constitution states: “All public elections and all referenda voting shall be by secret ballot.”
No one would know how a person voted in an election because of the secrecy of the vote. Hence there is no reason for wrangling regarding the registration of voters. All citizens who are entitled to vote should receive the support of all other citizens to be registered as a voter without any obstruction or difficulty. The period of registration should be free from partisan propaganda. All citizens should consider it a common victory if we act in unison to ensure that all those who are entitled are registered without necessarily identifying party affiliation. Members of registration teams should be polite and accommodating in dealing with each claimant and pose no obstacles to legitimate claimants to be registered and vote.
Foroyaa is closely monitoring the registration process and will highlight issues wherever there are hitches so that they will be remedied with speed. Registering teams should be at their stations on time and should close on time so that diligent citizens would not be discouraged from registering due to the neglect of registering teams in respecting the time established for the registration of voters in their centres.
We hope that registration will take place in a peaceful atmosphere to prepare the ground for peaceful election.
