Presidential election 2015 – second round - Voting a smooth, fast process |18 December 2015

The voting process went smoothly and fast yesterday in the second round of the presidential election compared to the first when polling stations closed very late and results were announced in the early hours of the following day.

Chief electoral officer Charles Morin said this is thanks to changes made after the first round and measures put in place to speed up the process.

“We are happy with the way presiding officers are managing all situations throughout this election. The measures we have taken are also helping the process. I am really satisfied because compared to the last time the aggressive verbal attacks on the officers have not happened. We saw that the two candidates are veterans and they understand the elections rules and procedures,” said Mr Morin.

While the electoral commission said it noted that voters treated election officials with more respect, it confirmed reports that some activists campaigned while in queue adding that this was dealt with by the police.

Voting at 25 polling stations on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue started at 7am and electoral officers used the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) FM and Am radio stations to continuously urge residents not to wait until the last minute to report to polling stations but to do so well before the official closing time of 7pm.

A total of 70,943 people were eligible to vote in all the 25 electoral areas to choose who between incumbent President James Michel of Parti Lepep and former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles National Party will occupy the country’s highest office.

According to hourly statistics released by the electoral commission, nearly 26,866 people (37.9% of registered voters) had cast ballots at 11am during the three days of second-round voting.

By 12 noon the numbers had risen to 35,111 people (49.5%), at 1pm it was at 35,352 people (49.8%), at 2pm 44,750 people (63.1%), at 3pm 49,837 people (70.2%), at 4pm 53,439 people (75.3%), at 5pm 56,365 people (79.5%) and at 6pm 58,975 people (83.1%).

After none of the six candidates got the required 50 percent plus one votes that was needed for an outright majority during the first round of voting from December 3-5, a second round was needed to decide between the two highest vote getters

Mr Michel got 47.76% in the first round and Mr Ramkalawan 35.33%.

The second round voting began on Wednesday on the outer islands and continued on Thursday.

Voters casting their votes at the Grand Anse and Baie Ste Anne polling stations on Praslin (photos courtesy Romano Laurence)