Elections in Togo postponed

The parliamentary elections in Togo have been postponed to August 5. This is probably a good thing because it give the parties in Togo time to prepare, but it also means that the RPT has more time to rig the vote.

Ouagadougou – Togo’s general election will be postponed from June 24 until August 5 due to technical, financial and human resources problems, officials said late Monday.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Togo (Ceni) announced after a meeting in Burkina Faso that a variety of problems had to be overcome before the vote could go ahead.

“Ceni notes that technical, logistical, financial and human constraints have to be dealt with before the electoral process can be properly carried out,” it said in a statement.

Togo’s Election Postponed, The Independent Online, South Africa, May 15, 2007

However, there are big questions whether all will be ready even at the later date. Especially there are serious concerns about the voting machines that apparently will be used. Between training poll workers to operate these machines and alleviating concerns about vote rigging using these machines, the election commission has a tall order to pull off a decent election even on the later date.

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