NEBE To Deploy Joint Security Team To Verify High-Risk Polling Stations

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) prepares to deploy team that will assess the security situation in polling station areas. The board convened with political parties, CSOs and stakeholders on the modality and terms of the assessment. The team will be comprised of the Board, political parties and CSOs, according to NEBE statement today.

Previously, the Board disclosed it has categorized polling stations across the country as ‘green, yellow and red’, based on the security situations in the areas. However, political parties argued that the information was based on government data. Parties complained they are unable to list candidates in some areas categorized as ‘green, yellow’. As the result, parties have come up with their own security situation analysis.

In a bid to reach consensus on a realistic categorization, the Board has decided to deploy a team to assess the polling stations on the ground.

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“Based on the security situation information received from government security offices and political parties, different discussions have been underway. Now we discuss to determine the role of the team to be on the ground to verify the actual situation,” Melatework Hailu, the Board chairperson said while opening the session on Monday.