Councillors Continue Withdrawing Voters' Cards

Councillors who constitute the Electoral College for the first ever elections into the Senate to hold in Cameroon on April 14 continue are withdrawing their voters' cards. Some branch offices of Cameroon's elections governing body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) visited yesterday April 1 had almost all voters' cards withdrawn.

ELECAM VI branch office near the Gendarmerie Headquarters at Melen distributed all 41 cards at its level. The branch Head, Aboubakar Garba said the last card was withdrawn on Friday March 29, giving them a 100 per cent score. Most cards at ELECAM office for Yaounde I Subdivision at Rue Draggages, Mballa II, were withdrawn. Only four of the 41 voters' cards are still pending withdrawal, the Branch Head, Yves Bertrand Zanga explained. The card withdrawal exercise is reported to be hitch-free.

According to Section 225 of the Electoral Code of April 19, 2012 paragraph one, "Senatorial electors shall each receive a registration card which must feature their full name, date and place birth, photograph, finger prints, type of elective office, filiation, profession, domicile or place of residence." The cards are purposely for elections into the Senate. The deadline for the distribution of the cards according to Section 226 of the Electoral Code, Paragraph One is 20 days before election: "Registration cards shall be distributed by divisional branches of Elections Cameroon, within 20 days preceding the election."

With respect to this, electors therefore have less than 15 days to withdraw their voters' cards from ELECAM divisional branch offices without which they remain at the divisional branch offices until the close polls close.

Councillors are responding to a request from the Director General of Elections, Mohaman Sani Tanimou inviting them to personally report in ELECAM branch offices from March 20, 2013 in order to withdraw their voters' cards. The release further requested Councillors to come along with two passport-size photographs for administrative formalities.