Chart of the Week
With the 2025 Local Authority (L.A.) and Regional Council (R.C.) elections taking place on 26 Nov '25, the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) notes poor voter turnout in previous election years.Indeed, voter turnout is weak, particularly in comparison to the national elections. In 2020, voter turnout for the L.A. and R.C. elections came to 37% and 43%, respectively, compared to a 60% turnout in the 2019 national election.
As the number of votes in each constituency and region is significantly less than that of the two broader General and Presidential Elections, the results are often decided by a margin of less than a hundred votes, or even less than ten votes in some constituencies. It has even been the case that a single additional vote cast has decided the result.
The local and regional elections are thus often tightly contested in each constituency; thus, an individual’s casted vote holds more weight in these elections given lower turnout.
L.A. and R.C. elections arguably hold much unappreciated weight as they have a greater impact on some aspects of the public’s everyday life within their towns/communities than the broader elections.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) notes that there is a low level of enthusiasm for these elections because the public is not well informed about their importance and purpose of these elections.
Potential voters in L.A. and R.C. elections believe the outcome is predictable and that their vote does not make a difference, when in fact the margins are often very small and a handful of additional votes could indeed change the outcome.
Local authorities have power over several public and merit goods, such as water and electricity supply, waste management, ambulance services, traffic services, housing schemes, roads, public transportation, and many more. Some aspects do require the Minister’s approval, while the power to borrow, loan, donate and grant money requires approval of the central government.
*Tannan Groenewald is the head of data and analytics at Cirrus Capital.**