Rundu: No votes were cast in the Ndonga Linena and Ndiyona constituencies during Monday's special voting exercise as part of the 2025 Regional Councils and Local Authorities Elections scheduled for Wednesday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Electoral Officer for the Kavango East Region, Paulus Sifire, stated that in a democratic country, individuals have the freedom to decide whether to participate in voting or not. He mentioned that eligible voters in these constituencies might have opted to wait for the main election day on Wednesday.

Sifire reported that other constituencies, including Rundu Rural, Rundu Urban, Mashare, and Mukwe, experienced high voter turnout. He noted that six polling stations, one in each constituency, were operational for special voting, and all opened on time.

Regarding deployment logistics for Wednesday's voting, Sifire confirmed that the process began on Monday, prioritizing remote areas to ensure polling teams arrived on time and were adequately set up. Polling teams for Rundu Rural, Mashare, Ndonga Linena, Ndiyona, and Mukwe were dispatched successfully.

Rundu Urban was not included in the early deployment due to its proximity to the central town. Sifire remarked that the deployment process was smooth overall, with all essential materials collected and teams dispatched on schedule. However, some teams faced transportation challenges when several contracted private vehicle owners withdrew from participation. The issue was resolved using standby Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) vehicles.

In total, the ECN contracted 329 private vehicles for election operations in the region.