Elections in Namibia

Since then the number of elected seats to the National Assembly was increased to 96 to allow for wider representation of the population,[1] although the real reason behind it was the newly introduced gender equality system of the ruling party SWAPO.

[2] The National Council of Namibia has 42 members, indirectly elected for a five-year term in triple-seat constituencies (regions).

Namibia is a democratic but one party dominant state with the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) in power.

While this is also true for SWAPO which was founded to represent the Ovambo people, the ruling party has garnered national support due to its role in the fight for independence.

Opposition parties have had little success in national elections, and their representation in the lower house has been dwindling steadily.

However, the electronic voting machines (EVMs) that Namibia purchased do not implement the Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT).

The Supreme Court of Namibia ruled in 2020 that without a paper trail, usage of the EVMs in elections is unconstitutional.

Starting with the 2020 Namibian local and regional elections the voting process thus uses paper ballots again.