Prior to a general election in December, certain opposition candidates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have complained about delays and suspected irregularities in a voter registration drive. They claim the drive is being undertaken against them.
The CENI election commission announced on Friday that a number of centers in the first registration zone of 10 provinces, which includes the capital Kinshasa, had missed a temporary deadline that had already been extended by 25 days. Over 50 million Congolese voters are expected to be registered by March 17.
According to CENI rapporteur Patricia Nseya, who highlighted operational challenges without providing more information, “They will be given a catch-up period.”
It stated that due to security concerns, 24 additional centers in the province of Kinshasa and an undefined number of centers in the province of Mai Ndombe have yet to operate.