The ballot vote procedure

        Somaliland held its local council election on 28^th of November, this being the fifth consecutive peaceful election held in Somaliland.  The last local council was ten years ago, this election was held to determine the local council and also to find the three parties who will be running for the presidential election for the upcoming decade in Somaliland.

            There were hundreds of candidates running for this election so candidates were split up for the six regions in Somaliland.  Mostly how candidates are chosen is based on clans system meaning people vote for the candidate from their clan.  Certain candidates were running in Hargeisa and so as the other candidates in the other regions.  People had to go to other regions because if the candidate they want to vote for is not running in the region they are.  People faced horrible experiences through these journeys; they were shipped in big trucks.  Candidates were told that there life conditions will be as standard as it is now.  When going to the other region, they had no worries about where they are going to sleep and their food.   Most people when they went there had encountered problems.  They were told to sleep in outside like footballs grounds or in fences.  They were really angry about this and didn’t do the one thing they came for, they didn’t vote.

            On other hand, some people voted multiple times.  Regardless of the fact of multiple voting, the elections would have been democratic and transparent election.  People would go early to the voting places so that they vote the first time there and can go to the other places for a second and third turns.   This was unfair to some candidates because some candidates’ clans are fewer than the others so that the other clans’ candidates had an advantage over the others.   When I went to vote, some of my friends voted already and also were waiting for another turns.  The reason is because if your relative is a member of the candidates, you want him to be elected so the only way to get him elected is by multiple voting. 

 The election would have been more democratic than it was if Somaliland had a better technology.  Ink was put on the hand after you vote but the problem was that ink can be taken off easily.  People used Clorox or some other chemicals to take off the ink and voted multiple times.