Windhoek: Technical glitches and delays involving party agents affected the opening of at least two polling stations in Windhoek on Wednesday, although election officials reported a smooth voting process and a strong voter turnout overall.

According to Namibia Press Agency, presiding officers at the Habitat Centre and A Shipena Secondary School polling stations confirmed that they experienced difficulties at the start of voting in the Regional Councils and Local Authorities Elections.

At the Habitat Centre polling station in the John A Pandeni Constituency, presiding officer Duddley Tjirombora stated that they were facing issues with the official opening process. "We had some party agents who showed up late and some who came here but weren't assigned here. We also experienced technical difficulties with the tablets, which interfered with the voting process, but we're just waiting on the IT technician to come sort it out," Tjirombora said.

Loide Shivela, the presiding officer at the A Shipena Secondary School polling station, also reported technical issues with the voter verification equipment. "We experienced a minor glitch with the tablets earlier, but that did not interfere with the voting process. Other than that, the voting process has been smooth, voter turnout has been great, and we expect to get an even better turnout later in the day," Shivela said.

Meanwhile, presiding officers elsewhere reported an impressive start to the day. Rudolf Muzengua, the presiding officer at the Soweto Market A polling station, noted that he was surprised by the early turnout and encouraged more people to cast their vote. "I was surprised because I was not expecting such a big turnout this early, but this is a great indication that the public is serious about voting this year," Muzengua said. Both polling stations visited recorded a good voter turnout and are expecting more voters as the day progresses.