For Burkina Faso’s last election – a presidential poll in 2010 –difficult and confusing requirements resulted in overwhelmingly low voter registration. Only three million of the country’s six million eligible citizens registered. And of those, only 1.7 million showed up at the polls. Women, in particular, faced formidable obstacles because of a requirement that citizens obtain a birth certificate before they can register.
The country’s residents will vote next on Dec. 2 in the nation’s first joint local and National Assembly elections. In an effort to register more voters, a program coordinated by NDI with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, set a goal to help 10,000 women obtain birth certificates. It far exceeded expectations and ended up helping 16,000 women seeking to vote.
Read more at NDI, published 19 October 2012.
For Burkina Faso’s last election – a presidential poll in 2010 –difficult and confusing requirements resulted in overwhelmingly low voter registration. Only three million of the country’s six million eligible citizens registered. And of those, only 1.7 million showed up at the polls. Women, in particular, faced formidable obstacles because of a requirement that citizens obtain a birth certificate before they can register.
The country’s residents will vote next on Dec. 2 in the nation’s first joint local and National Assembly elections. In an effort to register more voters, a program coordinated by NDI with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, set a goal to help 10,000 women obtain birth certificates. It far exceeded expectations and ended up helping 16,000 women seeking to vote.
Read more at NDI, published 19 October 2012.