Opposition candidates in this weekend’s presidential election in Democratic Republic of Congo demanded on Tuesday that the electoral board deactivate SIM cards in voting machines to prevent the electronic transmission of results.
The opposition are up in arms because active SIM cards could allow the electoral board (CENI) to tabulate the vote electronically, despite repeated assurances the results would be based on hand counts of paper print-outs from the machines.
Disputes about the largely untested machines have stoked tensions ahead of Sunday’s (December 30) long-anticipated election, which the CENI postponed from this past weekend due to delays deploying voting materials.
Seven opposition candidates, including one of the favourites in the race, Martin Fayulu, called on mobile phone operators to deactivate the SIM cards, which the CENI earlier admitted had been fitted in the machines.
A CENI spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
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