Balderas for Genuine Democracy Party characterized voters’ registration exercise in Addis Ababa for the 6th Ethiopian general election as “terrible”, badly affecting the pre-election activities.
Based on its findings, the party said some election staff refused to register non–Oromo speaking residents of the city though they distributed voting cards to non – residents of the city against the law of the land.
Voting cards were distributed based on ethnicity and religious background, the party said while stating its finding.
“The election staff disappeared for hours in what seemed an intentional move to discourage the residents to get registered,” Baderas said.
The party said it witnessed about 16 voters’ registration centers were closed for undisclosed reasons in one area.
In many cases election staff began registration late in the afternoon as the majority of them disappeared either in the morning or in the afternoon.