Ethiopia’s agency to manage elections on Monday announced postponement of voters’ registration for the country’s sixth general elections this year, citing challenges like delayed support from regions.
In a press statement, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia said the registration is re-scheduled to start on March 25 and last until April 23. Previously, it had been slated to fall on March 1-25.
In regard to the reasons, the independent institution cited delays in opening constituency offices, lack of transportation for the distribution of election materials, and the “thorough and time-consuming” process of recruiting independent constituency officers, among others.
Ethiopia planned to hold its general elections in August 2020. In June last year, its upper house of parliament approved a recommendation to postpone the elections over concerns for COVID-19. Later in December, the electoral board tentatively set June 5, 2021 as the date for the elections.
