National Electoral Commission (CNE) in Angola has started to deliver credentials to delegates of the eight parties contesting the general election scheduled for Aug. 24.
The CNE spokesperson, Lucas Quilundo said Wednesday the delegates are not electoral agents, however, they have a huge responsibility in the supervision of the electoral process, explaining that the tasks of the delegates include opening the ballot boxes, overseeing the voting process, counting the votes, presenting possible complaints and preparing and signing the minutes of the ballot, and having the right to obtain a copy of these, as determined by the law.
The CNE spokesperson in Angola said that the delegates play a crucial role in the process of making the elections credible and ensuring the integrity of the process and that a total of 276,641 delegates have been registered all over the country.
Quilundo also urged voters to continue to adopt acceptable civic conduct and avoid any kind of behavior that could jeopardize the process.
Horacio Junjuvili, a delegate of UNITA, Angola’s second-largest party, said the accreditation ceremony helps make the process credible.
Pedro Neto of the ruling MPLA party said that his party managed to register a delegate and a substitute for each polling station and that their work helps avoid some of the suspicions that are generally raised in this process.
Pedro Neto also said that the success of the work depends a lot on the professionalism of the delegates.
At least 14.3 million voters are expected to cast ballots in the Aug. 24 elections to take place for the fifth time since the nation’s independence in 1975. Some 22,560 citizens are expected to vote from abroad.
