Municipal and Regional councilors go to the polls this Sunday March 12, 2023 to elect senators for the third legislative period which a mandate of five years. The elections will take place throughout the National territory.
Electoral College
The election of Senators is via indirect suffrage. Municipal and Regional councilors constitute the electoral college.
Regional councilors will be taking part in the exercise for the first time this year.
The electoral college is composed of 11,134 voters. They will cast their votes in 198 polling stations situated in Divisional headquarters.
Voting Process
According to the decree concerning the electorate, voting starts at 8:00am and Closes at 6:00pm. However, the electoral code specifies that voters arriving the polling stations at the time of closure of the polls may be allowed to vote. While those already inside the polling station will be allowed to vote.
The voting process consists of verification of the identity of the elector by the local voting commission. The voter presents their voter card and National Identity card and their names are verified on the electoral register.
They will then singlehandedly pick an envelope and a ballot paper of each of the parties in contest, proceed to the ballot booth where the ballot paper of their choice will be inserted in the envelope and brought out. While letting the local voting Commission witness that they have only one envelope, they slot it into the ballot box and proceed to sign the electoral register.
The law has made special provisions for persons with disabilities or whose nature makes it impossible for them to singlehandedly carry out the voting operation.
In such cases they may call for assistance from an elector of their choice who is duly registered on the electoral register of the same polling station.
The electoral code specifies that the elector shall not be a candidate or representative of a candidate or party and shall lend assistance only to one person on voting day.
Vote Counting
At the close of the polls, the ballot box is open and the number of envelopes verified. Scrutineers will proceed by opening each envelope and counting the number of votes per list.
During the process, the electoral code indicates that envelopes containing separate ballot papers, having marks or signatures or not in conformity with those provided for the election will be considered null.
The votes will be tallied on the voting counting sheet.
After tallying, the results from each polling stations shall be announced publicly.
The report of each polling stations shall be forwarded in two copies to the Regional delegation of ELECAM which will forward a copy to the Regional Supervisory Commission.
The commission will centralise and tally the votes of the Region before forwarding their report to the National Commission for Final counting of votes situated at the Constitutional Council that shall rectify any possible clinical errors.
Election Disputes
Parties to the election will have 72 hours from the close of the polls to submit petition to the Constitutional Council.
The council during its public hearings will ensure complies with the electoral law.
Proclamation of Results
The Constitutional Council will proclaim the results of the election of Senators 15 days as of the date of the polls.
Following the proclamation of results, the President of the Republic will appoint 30 Senators three from each Region making the total of 100, ten from each Region; seven elected, three appointed. The elected will meet in the session as of right at the Senate where they will be given their attributes.
