The two Seychellois observer missions that monitored the first round of the presidential elections this month say some residents could not cast ballots because of problems with the vote register. The problems with the voter rolls resulted in some registered voters being turned away, “impacting the fairness and credibility of the current voters’ roll,” Jules Hoareau, deputy chief of mission for the Association for Rights Information and Democracy, said at a news conference Wednesday. That analysis echoed a report released Monday from Citizens for Democracy Watch Seychelles. “Some voters were unable to cast their ballot because their names did not appear on the voters’ register or on the approved supplementary list of voters in special voting stations,” said Eline Moise, CDWS’ chairwoman.
Six candidates vied to become president of Seychelles, an island nation in the western Indian Ocean, during the December 3-5 vote. None won more than 50 percent of the vote, forcing the top two vote-getters — incumbent President James Michel and former parliamentarian Wavel Ramkalawan — into a second-round vote next week December 16-18.
The local election observer missions said that although voting started in all polling areas on time at 7 a.m., voting procedures, including the verification of voters and the marking of fingers, were not consistent.
Full Article: Seychelles: Vote ‘Peaceful, Orderly,’ but Long Lines, Register Should Be Improved, Seychelles Observers Say – allAfrica.com.