SA company to print Namibia’s ballot papers
South African printing company wins bid to print ballot papers for the regional and local elections in Namibia
RUSTENBURG, November 2 (ANA) – A South African based printing company has won the bid to print ballot papers for the regional and local election in Namibia, the country’s election commission said on Monday.
The chief electoral officer of the Namibian Electoral Commission Theo Mujoro, said in a statement that Durban based company Uniprint, was selected for submitting for the most responsive that met all technical requirement following a competitive public procurement process.
“Uniprint has printed ballot papers for more than 20 electoral management bodies at various points in time in the SADC region including Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, Lesotho and recently in 2019 South African and Mozambique electoral commissions,” he said in a statement dated Sunday, November 1.
He said the Electoral Commission of Namibia was confident that Uniprint would ensure that all ballot papers were delivered on time and to the commission’s requirement and specifications.
He said all contesting political parties would be offered an opportunity at their own cost to inspect the printing facility in South Africa and to monitor ballot paper printing.
According to Namibia media, the electoral commission would pay Uniprint N$1,9 million about US$116,784 to print ballot papers for the November 25 elections.
According to a report in daily newspaper The Namibian, the company is owned by the Tiso Blackstar Group, a South African media company.
Four companies were shortlisted for the bid–Solitaire Press, Schoemans Technology, and Ren-Form CC and Uniprint – both South African companies.
Ren-Form CC printed ballot papers for Namibia in the 2010 regional council and local authority elections.
The daily reported that manual voting in elections was in compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgement in February this year, declaring the use of electronic voting machines without a verifiable paper trail unconstitutional.
Uniprint on its website says that it’s thorough and reliable, elections and ballots services have led to it managing the election printing in a number of African countries – not just South Africa.
‘Our powerful software systems ensure correct batching and kitting of materials so that electoral commissions can achieve timeous delivery to all polling stations. Extensive planning, attention to detail and effective time management help ensure that the voting proceeds smoothly,” the company stated.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay
