The National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Somaliland carried out a mock registration of voters in two of the country’s districts.
The exercise was carried out on September 3 as part of the preparations for the upcoming elections in the country later in the year.
Somaliland is gearing up for parliamentary and local council polls towards the end of the year.
NEC selected two districts with a medium-sized population that is eligible to vote for the mock exercise.
Prospective voters in Balligubadle and Oodweyne, the administrative capitals of Hawd and Daadmadheedh districts, took part in the exercise.
The electoral body’s commissioners said that the exercise was organized to achieve two purposes.
First, NEC sought to know how much work would be involved in helping voters who had relocated elsewhere to change their voting cards.
Secondly, the exercise was designed to help with the registration of new voters.
Somaliland has a new set of voters who are eligible to vote for the first time by virtue of coming off age or never having registered before.
Khadar Hussein Abdi, Wadani Party’s Secretary General, commended the electoral body for demonstrating diligence in preparing for the upcoming polls.