Voter registration is the process whereby any Namibian citizen who qualifies to vote is registered to have his/her name included in the voters’ register and issued with a voters card. Registration of voters in Namibia is a voluntary exercise and is a process by which Namibian citizens of voting age register during the determined period of registration to participate in the elections.

There are tree types of voters’ registration in Namibia conducted by the Electoral Commission of Namibia. Which are:

• General Registration of Voters,
• Supplementary Registration of Voters, and
• Continuous Registration of Voters

General Registration of Voters

Act 24 of 1992 (Section 15(1) For the purpose of any election under this Act, the general registration of voters after the commencement of this Act shall take place during a period determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette, and thereafter such general registration shall take place at intervals of not more than ten years during a similarly determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette: provided that the President may from time to time , for the purpose provided in this Act, determine that a supplementary registration of voters shall take place during any period determined in a like manner by him or her in respect of Namibia or any part thereof.

1. The president may by proclamation in the, alter any period determined under subsection
2. in respect of Namibia or any part thereof.

However, with the introduction of the Electoral Act in 2014, the ECN has experienced several challenges, including budgetary constraints affecting the implementation plan of the promulgated Electoral Act and the establishment of regional/constituency offices, as well as insufficient human resources.

Therefore, in line with Section 39(5), the Commission took the decision to suspend the continuous voter registration process on 03 November 2015. The suspension of the continuous voter registration process will however not affect eligible voters who qualify to be registered. The Electoral Act makes provision for registration of voters prior to any given election, which includes registration for National elections, Regional Council and Local Authority Council elections, and by-elections.