Angolans Vote in General Polls

Angola, Luanda, 31st August 2012- About 10 million registered Angolans began voting today 31st of August to elect their representatives in the parliament and their President of the Republic for the next five years.

The African Union (AU) Observer Mission is led by His Excellency Mr. Pedro Verona Pires, former President of the Republic of Cape Verde.

Members of the Mission who have been on ground in Angola since the
24th of August 2012 to observe the General election were seen at
polling stations across the country. The observation will focus on the regularity, transparency, equity and the voting after which the Mission will make known its assessment and will, eventually , formulate recommendations to the relevant authorities of the Republic of Angola during a press conference to be held on 02 September 2012.

The AU Mission is composed of 30 members drawn from Members of the Pan-African Parliament, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), African Ambassadors accredited to the African Union as well as members of African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from 21 African Countries, including: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, SADR, Somalia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Voting will take place in 10,349 polling stations and 25,359 voting streams, with a maximum of 500 voters per stream.

Election polls opened at 7:00 am and close at 7:30 pm, but voters are allowed to join the voting queues only until 6:00pm. Each stream is managed by a 5-person team recruited and trained by the National Electoral.

Out of the 27 parties and coalitions that applied to compete in the elections, only 9 were accepted, namely MPLA, UNITA,FNLA,PRS,ND,FUMA,CPO,PAPOD and CASA-CE.

For further information please contact:
Ms. Afrah Thabit

Directorate of Information and Communication
Cell: +244914264426

Thabitma@africa-union.org
afraht@hotmail.com