ELECAM announces over 368 thousand new voters registered in 2023.

The Director General of Elections at ELECAM, Dr Erik Essousse, made the announcement in a press briefing in Yaounde on Friday September 1. This was after the electoral register was closed midnight on August 31, after they were open on January 1, for the annual revision exercise, in conformity with Section 74, Sub-Section 2 of the Electoral Code. 

According to Dr Essousse, figures of the revised electoral register shows an achievement rate of 99.47% as compared to 2022. The records, he added, also indicates that there was an increase of 29,743 electors, representing 8.79% when compared to the figures obtained in 2022.

Meanwhile, of 368,119 electors successfully registered by the end of the operation, there are 229,896 men and 138,223 women. A vivid look at the youth representation also showed that 255,742 young people got enrolled for upcoming elections with 160,960 men and 94,782 ladies.

Furthermore, 444 persons with a disability were registered with 294 being males and 150 females. Dr Essousse revealed that a total of 7,523,184 eligible persons are ready to cast their votes in the upcoming elections, pending clean-up of the national register.

ELECAM’s strategy

According to the Director General of elections at ELECAM, when the revision campaigns were launched last January 1, the election management structure set out the objective of ensuring the registration of youth, women, persons with a disabilities, minority groups and indigenous people like the Pygmies and Mbororos. 

He said the operations relating to this revision exercise were conducted in a calm, disciplined, and convivial atmosphere marked by a remarkable commitment of its collaborators in the different branches across the country. 

He said in order to achieve the objectives of this annual operation, ELECAM deployed a number of strategies to woo eligible Cameroonians to affix their names on the electoral logbooks. 

One of such strategies was the implementation of the concept of ‘ELECAM Media Coffee’ which are information, sensitisation and education campaigns on community radio stations in local languages, through educational talks on interactive programmes between ELECAM and people in rural areas. 

According to Dr Essousse, the ‘ELECAM Media Coffee’ “contributed to create a proximity between the election management body and the local population”. 

This campaign, he added, was relayed on digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups. This strategy was equally effected in newspapers and audio-visual press as well as online media outlets in order to motivate citizens to register on electoral registers. 

“Commissions responsible for the revision of electoral registers took to the field, implementing several strategies, like door-door contacts to get closer to the population and register youths of voting age in particular,” he added.

Meanwhile, members of the Electoral Board also ensured the effective supervision of the entire process, by means of field trips, constructive exchanges and organisation of inclusive national and regional platforms for consultation with stakeholders of the electoral process, in view of boosting confidence in the electoral process and increasing registration on electoral registers.

Expresses gratitude to stakeholders

While expressing satisfaction with the positive results of the operation, he said without the collaboration of the different stakeholders, the objectives rolled out at the beginning would not have been attained. 

“I take this opportunity to thank our collaborators on the field whose constant hard work contributed to achieve the objectives fixed. I thank the government for putting means at our disposal that ensured the accomplishment of this revision of electoral registers,” Essousse declared.

He further acknowledged the members of the Electoral Board for their effective supervision of the operation, and political parties that mobilised their militants towards registration on electoral registers. 

In addition, the administration and forces of law and order were not left out as they contributed their fair share to the success of the operation together civil society organisations and the media.