How is the national electoral register created?

Namibia, Electoral Act 5 of 2014 (as of 8 October 2024), accessed 23 January 2025

Persons entitled to register as voters:

22. (1) Subject to subsection (2), every person who by virtue of Article 17(2) of the Namibian Constitution is entitled to be registered as a voter - (a) in the case of an election of the President, or of members of the National Assembly, at any registration point; (b) in the case of an election of any member of a regional council, at any registration point in the constituency in which he or she is resident; (c) in the case of an election of any member of a local authority council, at any registration point in the local authority area in which the person is resident, but subject to Article 111(3) of the Namibian Constitution; and (d) in the case of any referendum to be held under this Act or the Namibian Constitution, at any registration point. 

(2) A person is not entitled to be registered as a voter if the person - (a) is not a Namibian citizen; (b) has not attained the age of 18 years; (c) is of unsound mind or mentally disordered or defective and has been so declared by a competent court; or (d) is detained as a mentally ill person under any law. (3) Subject to section 40, for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) and (c) the constituency in which a voter is registered is the constituency in which the voter votes.

General registration of voters 

25. (1) For the purposes of any election under this Act, the first general registration of voters after the commencement of this Act must take place not later than 10 years after the last general registration of voters in terms of the repealed Act, during a period determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette, and thereafter the general registration must take place at such intervals of not more than 10 years during a period similarly determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette. 

1A) Despite subsection (1), the first general registration of voters after the commencement of the Electoral Amendment Act, 2023 must take place during a period not later than 31 August 2024 as the President may determine by Proclamation in the Gazette