Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

held elections for their local and regional councils on 27 November 2015. Ballots were cast using

electronic voting Electronic voting is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or handle casting and counting ballots including voting time. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone '' electronic voting machines'' (also ...

Electoral system

Elections to regional councils are held using the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

electoral system. Voters in each constituency elect one councillor to represent them on their regional council. Local authority councillors are elected by a system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

Results

Regional and local elections taken together elected 199 women out of the 499 available seats, partly because

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

for women is required by law in local authority elections.

Regional elections

There were 121 constituency councillors to be elected. Each of them represented their constituency in the respective regional council. The regional councils in turn selected 3 representatives each to serve in the National Council. In twenty-eight constituencies

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

was announced as winner in October because no opposition party nominated a candidate.

Local election

Local elections determine the population of the village, town, and city councils and have a direct influence on who will become mayor, as this position is elected among all councillors. Contrary to the regional elections, local elections in Namibia are determined by party, not by individual. There are 57 local authorities to be elected. In five of them (

Okahao Okahao is a town in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Okahao electoral constituency which is the largest constituency in Omusati region in terms of area. It is a former mission station of the Finnish Mission ...

Omuthiyagwiipundi Omuthiyagwiipundi (short: Omuthiya) is the capital of Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia, situated approximately from Etosha National Park. It has about 7,500 residents. Prior to Omuthiya, Tsumeb was the regional capital. The town has been pro ...

, Oniipa,

Outapi Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola, situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of the Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electo ...

and

Tsandi Tsandi ( Oshiwambo: ''that which is at the center'') is a village in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Tsandi electoral constituency. It is a former mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society. Tsandi ...

)

was announced as winner in October because no opposition party nominated a candidate.

References

2015 in Namibia Local and regional elections in Namibia

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