Maputo — The great majority of voter registration posts visited by observers from the civil society coalition "Mais Integridade' ("More integrity') during the first week of registration began their operations promptly at 08.00 on 20 April.
474 posts were observed, and 90 per cent of them began operations on time, according to a release from the coalition. But malfunctioning equipment was the main cause why the other ten per cent did not start operations at the date and time envisaged.
However, "Mais Integridade' was not able to observe registration in all the municipalities, because of delays in issuing observers with credentials. By 19 April, on the eve of the start of the registration, only four of the 11 Provincial Elections Commissions (in Inhambane, Manica, Niassa and Zambezia) had issued credentials.
"The other provincial commissions issued credentials very slowly over the following days', said the release. "In these provinces, this delay prevented observation with the desired quality and depth'.
The last credentials were issued in Nampula, on 27 April, seven days after the registration had begun. In Gaza, Sofala and Cabo Delgado the credentials were issued on 25 April, in Maputo province on 24 April, in Maputo city on 21 April, and in Tete on 20 April.
The coalition's observers found long queues at most of the posts visited. The queues were mostly orderly, although scuffles broke out in posts where operations were interrupted, mostly due to problems with the equipment, particularly the printers used to print voter cards. These interruptions affected five per cent of the posts visited.
During 48 visits by the observers (eight per cent of the total), registration was interrupted. In 60 per cent of these cases, the interruptions were due to equipment breakdowns, and in 25 per cent to protests by citizens at how slow the registration brigades were in processing would-be voters.
Most of the brigades at the posts observed had a reasonable mastery of their equipment, but in ten per cent of the posts brigade members were unable to operate the computers or take fingerprints of voters. Such problems contributed to the long time voters were obliged to stay in queues.
The printer defects, or the lack of skill of the brigade members, meant that 308 (four per cent) of voters at the posts visited could not receive their voter cards, or the cards were so badly printed that the brigades had to print a second card.
The strangest complaint was that, in several posts, the cameras were unable to take photos of elderly voters. But cameras do not have minds of their own, and cannot distinguish between the face of an old person and a young one. No explanation for this anomaly has yet been forthcoming.
In the posts observed, it took an average of 7.5 minutes to process each voter. The coalition thought this was "acceptable' for the first week of registration, noting that in the registration prior to the previous municipal elections, in 2018, the average time taken was five minutes.
In 63 per cent of cases where the posts closed on time at 16.00, there were still queues of voters waiting to be registered. Brigade members gave these voters tickets so that they would be prioritized the following day.
The main political parties had monitors present at many of the posts. The ruling Frelimo Party monitored 81 per cent of the posts observed, the main opposition party, Renamo, 73 per cent, and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), 49 per cent.
The observers noted accusations that political parties are illegally mobilizing people from outside the municipalities to register as voters. Thus in Morrumbala, in Zambezia, Renamo prevented the registration of about 20 people living outside the municipal area - but they simply registered in a different post.
In Beira, the MDM claimed that Frelimo was mobilizing outsiders to register, but the observers could not confirm this.
In Alto Molocue, in Zambezia, a Frelimo monitor was caught registering twice. Despite this illegality, he continued his activities.
In the northern city of Nampula, brigades in at least two posts refused to register young people unless they presented a declaration from their neighbourhood ("bairro'). This is entirely illegal - no such document is mentioned in the electoral legislation.
The most flagrant illegality occurred in Gurue municipality, in Zambezia, where a group of brigade members were filmed printing voter cards, not at the registration posts, but at dead of night at the warehouse of the local branch of STAE (Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat).
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Regardless of the brigade members' motives, this procedure is illegal. Mais Integridade welcomed the unequivocal condemnation of this activity by the Zambezia Provincial Elections Commission, and that the case will be referred to the courts.
The coalition found that few complaints were made by the political party monitors at the posts observed. There were just 51 complaints - 57 per cent from Renamo, 31 per cent from Frelimo and eight per cent from the MDM.
The brigades either rejected or simply took note of two thirds of the complaints. The other third were solved on the spot, or were referred to higher electoral bodies.
Mais Integridade is a coalition between the Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), the Nucleus of Women's Associations of Zambezia (NAFEZA), Solidarity Mozambique (SoldMoz), the Civil Society Learning and Training Centre (CESC), the Mozambican chapter of MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa), and the Forum of Mozambican Associations of Disabled People.
