2025 Elections: Unpacking the Confluence of Issues & Low Youth Turnout

By: Dwight Links Various factors played a part at different stages of the Local and Regional Authority elections on 26 November 2025. Uniformed voters, restrictions on voting as per the regulations limiting the participation of voters, and the lack of identifiable signage and branding of polling stations in some areas all acted as contributing factors. That said, the noticeable disinterest observed served as the main issue, with a low youth participation reported during the recent elections. The Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) compiled a report with said observations. “Exceptionally low turnout, especially among young people. Youth apathy was attributed to confusion about registration locations and limited access to civic information,” the report stated. Another aspect to this was the confusion about what this new cycle of voting meant. “A major procedural challenge was that many voters were unable to vote because they had registered in a different constituency during the previous year’s registration process,” explained the NID. “This misunderstanding resulted from insufficient voter education, particularly among first-time and youth voters who were unaware that registration is constituency-specific,” added the think tank. The Institute’s recommendations included having a handful of spread responsibilities being borne by the various stakeholders participating in the elections process. “To improve election management and civic participation in future cycles, stakeholders, including NID, ECN, civil society partners, and donors, should consider the improvement on some aspects that were observed during the elections,” the report noted. As for the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), the report’s recommendation would be to improve on the visibility and other logistical elements around the polling stations, such as the queue management process expected to be experienced by voters. “On top of this, the ECN would also have to enhance the training for temporary staff, with specific focus on early-morning setup and equipment handling,” the NID advised. Moreover, emphasis was placed on the improvement of voter education during the election period as a means of securing a better turnout rate for elections. On whether this responsibility ought to be handed over to the political parties aiming to convince the electorate to vote, Jacinta Kasume (NID Project Manager) and Valentinia Mentor (NID Program Assistant) both indicated that this would cause complications around the ethical behaviour of parties. “This would create a problematic issue in terms of how the parties could conduct themselves. Since they are responsible for the convincing aspect towards the voters and communities, this could possibly lead to an instance of possible voter buying,” Kasume highlighted. Mentor added that the campaigning phase of the political parties has already exposed the everyday issues that people in their respective communities face, such as hunger and joblessness. “In some instances, the young people in the less affluent areas of Windhoek would rather go to a political rally or campaigning session where the possibility exists for them to get a cool drink or a small bread roll to eat, as their homes probably do not have food,” Mentor explained. Kasume indicated that the biggest concern they have observed was the clear difference in what political parties deem as important versus what the ordinary person has to worry about. “And, these are mostly real-world issues for these communities and their families. A single mother of four, possibly a low income earner, has to worry about the lack of food at home while working long hours,” indicated Kasume as a possible scenario feeding the divide in understanding the significance of the Local & Regional Authority elections phase, as opposed to being hyped up for the next president. The November 2025 elections saw a sweeping performance at the polls for the ruling SWAPO party against the backdrop of notable voter apathy and obvious disinterest from various communities. Statistics for the Regional Council voting indicate that there were 1.49 million registered voters eligible to participate, but only 609, 013 cast a ballot in last year’s process. For the Local Authority voting, there was a pool of 752, 043 voters eligible to partake, but only 272, 942 actually participated.