hopefully CUD will use this opportunity to line up candidates in all 23 constituency
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Addis Ababa, July 13,2005 (ENA)-The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has re-scheduled registration of candidates of contesting political parties in the Somali State.

The Board Office told ENA Monday that the Board has passed decision to extend candidates’ registration by a week on its regular meeting held on July 8, 2005.

The Office has also indicated that contesting political parties have repeatedly presented their request for the extension of the time-table set for candidates’ registration.

Taking into consideration that extending the registration period will enable contestant political parties field more candidates and take full participation in the election, the Board has decided that candidates’ registration would be held between July 25 and 30, 2005.

Though the Board has already finalized candidates’ registration and entered into election material’s printing phase, it has taken requests of the political parties into consideration, it said.

Accordingly, the Board called upon woreda and constituency offices to carry out registration of candidates running for seats in the State Council and the House of Peoples’ Representatives simultaneously with voters registration.

The Board also ordered the offices to immediately send the candidates’ registration document to the Board Office.

Registration of candidates of the Somali State national election had been conducted between February 25 and March 3, 2005.

The Board has also begun offering training for election executives of the upcoming national election in the state.

Speaking at the opening of the training, Board Deputy Head Tesfaye Mengesha said unlike other places, voters’ registration due to be held beginning July 25, 2005 in Somali State would not be carried out in permanent stations.

Accordingly, Tesfaye said election executives should carry out necessary preparations, adding that some reforms would also be implemented on the voting procedure.

Orientation would be given on permanent polling stations and mobile registration in the course of the training, he added.

Voters’ registration particularly in rural areas of the Somali State would be carried out in mobile registration system, while polling stations would be set up in all areas for balloting, Tesfaye said.

Some 155 election executives drawn from the state and other places are in attendance at the two-day training.

There are 2,000 polling stations under 23 constituencies in 51 woredas of the Somali State.