WINDHOEK: The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has launched its democracy awareness campaign with a particular focus on increasing youth participation in the electoral process.

The commission has acknowledged the need to encourage the youth to register as voters in the upcoming general voter registration from 03 June to August 2024.

ECN last week announced that all eligible Namibian voters will have to register to vote ahead of the presidential and national assembly elections in November 2024.

The democracy awareness campaign, which is part of the voter and civic education campaign for the registration of voters, is themed the Step Up Campaign under the slogan ‘Step up for your right, register to vote.’

ECN Commissioner Gerson Tjihenuna said that to encourage the youth, information, education materials, and campaigns will have the slogan ‘Your future lies with youth, step up and register to vote.’

He said to ensure active youth participation, the ECN will make use of youth ambassadors to influence t
he participation of young people in the electoral process.

‘The ECN is cognisant of the fact that the youth constitute the highest number of eligible voters in Namibia, however, their turnout during electoral processes has been low. To ensure youth participation during the upcoming electoral processes, the ECN has to come up with programmes and strategies aimed at promoting their participation,’ he said during the launch of ECN electoral calendar and awareness campaign last week.

Meanwhile, the electoral commission has picked Ms Teen Namibia, Oriana Ribeiro, as the lead youth ambassador for its voter and civic education.

Ribeiro told Nampa that for young people to secure their future, they must participate in the democratic process.

‘It is important for young people like me to get involved in the electoral process by registering and voting. What we need to realise is that Namibia is our future. We need to start taking initiative and contributing in meagre ways to our society. The first step we need to tak
e is to cultivate the kind of future we want. And we can do that by voting and being part of the electoral process,’ said the 19-year-old first-time voter.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency