My Observations Of Somaliland’s 2010 Presidential Elections - Aman H. D. Obsiye

When my father was born he was a colonial subject for the British Empire. On June 26th, 1960 he became a free citizen. Fifty years later, his American born son, had the opportunity to return to his birth city and be an International Election Observer (Progressio) for Somaliland’s 2010 Presidential elections. My team observed the Borama district of Awdal province, and we visited ten polling centers in the eastern rural area. The voting process was extremely meticulous. In order to vote you must have had a voter registration card, which looked like a typical American driver license. If you did not have a voter registration card, you must have had a validation certificate and your name must have been on the voters list. The voters list had complementary photos next to every name. This process insured that only registered voters voted, and it diminished any chance of manipulative voting.

It should be noted that polling station workers were students from Amoud University and Hargeysa University. I was very impressed by the polling station workers’ management skills. Also, every polling station had political party agents, playing the roles of checkers and balancers. These agents did their own count of how many voters came to their respective polling station.

Once the polling station workers deemed you eligible, they took your left-thumb print and than placed it next to your name and photo. The ballots were vividly colored with each parties name and symbol on it. The voting booth was secured and voters were able to vote secretly. After voting, the voter placed their ballot into a sealed ballot box.

If a voter was illiterate, a polling station worker asked the voter who they wanted to vote for. After that, they placed an “X” next to their respective candidate and showed their fellow workers, and political party agents, the vote. Once everyone agreed that the “X” was placed in the correct slot, the worker folded the ballot and gave it back to the voter to place in the ballot box. The illiterate were empowered by this process, further strengthening Somaliland’s democratic character. After the voter cast their vote, their left pinky finger was dipped into indelible ink, diminishing the possibility of double voting (it should be noted that polling station workers checked everyone’s hands before giving them a ballot).

After observing the ten rural polling stations, my team returned to Borama (capital of Awdal province) and observed the closing of a polling station. The process of counting the ballots was also meticulous. The polling station workers unsealed the ballot box, counted the votes openly, than resealed the ballot box. After the total was calculated, all polling station workers and party agents signed a document indicating that they all agreed on the results.

In conclusion, I am proud to say that overall I observed free and fair elections. Somaliland continues to prove that an Islamic African country can be democratic. I was extremely impressed by the numerous women voting, some polling stations had more women than men voters. The international community should welcome the Republic of Somaliland as the world’s newest democracy.