NEC confirms Dec 13 for Arusha, Handeni polls

 

THE parliamentary by-elections in Arusha Urban and Handeni are scheduled to be held on Sunday. National Electoral Commission (NEC) Chairman, Judge (Retired) Damian Lubuva told reporters in Dar es Salaam that the by-elections will also involve election of local councillors at three wards in different regions.

Such wards are Mvomero in Mvomero District (Morogoro) Nyamwilolewa (Geita District) and Ipala in Dodoma District. He said other elections at Ludewa in Njombe Region and Masasi Constituency in Mtwara will be held on December 20 while that at Kijitoupele in Zanzibar will be scheduled later on.

“The election in these areas were postponed during the general election on October 25 for various reasons, including deaths of the contestants,” he said, encouraging eligible voters in the respective areas to exercise their democratic rights by turning up and vote for their preferred candidates Mr 

Lubuva also reminded all voters in Arusha, Lushoto and the three wards to adhere to election rules and regulations to avoid unnecessary inconveniencies with NEC officials who will be supervising the exercise.

“The election rules remain the same; our polling stations will be opened at 7am and close at 4pm. Every voter should carry his or her voter identity card and present it to officials before casting their votes,” he stressed.

He said there will be full security at all polling centres, urging voters not to worry about their safety, adding that all principles will be observed.

“We also remind that no one shall be required to remain at the polling stations, claiming to protect their votes. Instead, the law requires all political parties to deploy agents to witness all exercises,” explained Judge Lubuva.

Meanwhile, the NEC Chairman has expressed his gratitude to the Tanzania media for their full participation in the just-ended general election by reporting each and every process that was undertaken by the commission, hence facilitating the exercise and enabling it to be conducted in a peaceful and transparent manner.

He said the media played a crucial role to update Tanzanians on what was going on -- from the campaigns, election, vote counting and announcement of results that were received from all parts of the country.

“We appreciate the role played by our media during the election exercise,” the electoral body chairman said, adding that Tanzania won wide acclaim from other countries for conducting its elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.