Ethiopia: Election Board Says 143 Polling Stations Failed to Open Over Security Problems; Voting Interrupted in 'Certain Areas' of Oromia and Amhara Regions

Addis Abeba — The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said 143 polling stations across the country failed to open today due to security-related problems, while voting that had already begun was later interrupted in parts of the Oromia and Amhara regions.

The Board disclosed the developments during a briefing on Ethiopia’s 7th general election, which officially began at 6:00 AM today. The briefing was delivered by NEBE Chairperson Melatwork Hailu at Skylight Hotel in Addis Abeba, Ethiopian Insider Election Team reported.

According to Melatwork, 50,188 polling stations opened on schedule to conduct voting. Of these 695 polling stations began operations between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM.

However, she said 143 polling stations did not open due to security concerns.

Melatwork further stated that following the start of voting, the electoral process was interrupted in parts of the Oromia and Amhara regions because of a “security problem” reported in “certain areas.”

She identified Bilonopa, Mekosachi, Qersa, and Kutaber localities among the polling stations where voting was disrupted after polling had already commenced.

The Board also reported communication difficulties linked to a “network problem,” saying it was unable to obtain information by telephone from the Sedal constituency in the Benishangul-Gumuz region and the Zelmam constituency in the South West Ethiopia region.

During the same briefing, Melatwork expressed condolences following the death of an election official in a road accident.

According to the Chairperson, the staff member was assigned to the Enemor and Ener 1 constituencies in the Central Ethiopia region. She told journalists that the unnamed Board employee, who worked in the logistics department, “passed away in an accident while riding a motorcycle early in the morning to carry out monitoring work.”

Describing the incident as “very tragic” and “a great loss for the Board,” Melatwork said: “We at the National Election Board of Ethiopia are deeply saddened by this.”

The disruptions reported by the election board come days after security authorities in Amhara and Oromia regions publicly emphasized readiness for election day, while armed opposition groups renewed calls rejecting the vote.

In its earlier election scenario assessments, Addis Standard noted that both the Amhara and Oromia regions faced ongoing conflicts that would likely affect the electoral process. AS