- Title: Senegal parliamentary elections marred by voting problems.
- Date: 31st July 2017
- Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (JULY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) ELECTORAL OFFICERS COUNTING VOTES CLOSE UP OF HANDS OF ELECTORAL OFFICER COUNTING VOTES CLOSE UP OF ELECTORAL OFFICER MARKING THE ELECTORAL LISTS ELECTORAL OFFICERS COMMUNICATING THEIR RESULTS CLOSE UP OF HANDS OF ELECTORAL OFFICER STAMPING THE ELECTORAL LISTS DAKAR, SENEGAL (JULY 31, 2017) (REUTERS) PEOPLE READING THE FRONT PAGES OF NEWSPAPERS
- Embargoed: 14th August 2017 17:22
- Keywords: Elections voting parliamentary elections ecowas identity cards
- Location: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- City: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- Country: Senegal
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0016S1RD5J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Counting of votes continues in Senegal following Sunday's (July 30) parliamentary elections, in which at least hundreds of voters were prevented from casting their ballots, because of delays in issuing identity cards, voters and officials said.
In an embarrassing turn for one of West Africa's most stable democracies, voters were left off voting lists at polling stations or told they did not have the right documents to vote.
Opposition leaders have criticized President Macky Sall for trying to stamp out political opposition in a contentious campaign.
The central problem in Sunday's vote was the delay in issuing biometric identity cards. Interior Minister Abdulaye Daoudada Diallo said early last week that 30 percent of the cards had still had not been distributed.
That caused an outcry from opposition politicians and voters who had spent weeks trying to obtain the new cards so they could vote.
Macky Sall asked the constitutional council to let voters use their card registration receipts and passports.
But voters at a polling station in a Dakar neighbourhood found that those documents were not enough.
One voter who did not want to give his name said his name was not on the list at his polling station. He was told to go to the provincial district office but they were unable to help. He said he felt robbed of his vote.
"In Senegal, we have been voting for decades and the citizens have a right to vote. So for someone like me, it upsets me because I am unable to vote. I am a citizen and I have the right to vote for the person who will represent me in parliament. What I take from this is they have taken away my freedom of speech and they are not letting me express myself and I think this is scandalous," the voter said.
Another voter, Sokhna Lo had the same problem despite having her new identity card. "I have the ECOWAS card with which I can vote. I have been queuing since 7 o'clock in the morning but I have been told that I cannot vote because my name is not on the list. I've been told to go to a different district but once I arrived there I was told that they cannot help me. It means that I cannot vote today and it really hurts me."
Another complication was that Senegalese had to make a choice from as many as 47 parties and coalitions this year.
"I am tired because there are too many ballot papers to choose from, this is too complicated, that is why at one point I even got annoyed and I was fed up but I pray for Abdoulaye Wade to win," said one voter, Maman Sene added.
Former Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, an opposition candidate, was greeted by cheering supporters at his polling station in Dakar.
After voting he said the elections were chaotic.
"It is a shame for a country like Senegal, which has been voting since 1848. What happened this time, it never happened before in the entire electoral history of Senegal," said Abdoulaye Wade, the 91-year-old former President and opposition candidate, who had returned from France to take part in the elections.
President Sall, who has prided himself on advancing transparency and stable, progressive democracy in Senegal since his election victory in 2012, welcomed the "smooth running" of the elections.
"As usual, the campaign was very animated. However, we can say that, in a nutshell, everyone could express their political will within the law and in accordance with the regulations."
According to estimates reported in local media, the ruling Benno Bok Yakaar coalition is poised to hold an absolute majority in the new national Assembly of 165 seats followed by the coalition Manko Taxawu Senegal of jailed Dakar mayor, Khalifa Sall - arrested for allegedly misusing public funds, then former president Wade's coalition - Wattu Senegal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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