Tanzania decides

DAR ES SALAAM: OVER 37 million Tanzanians today are expected to vote across the country, electing their President, Member of Parliaments (MPs) and ward Councillors.

A total of 18 political parties are in the electoral race with 17 of them having Presidential and Vice-presidential candidates while only ACT Wazalendo has parliamentary and councillor ship candidates following disqualification of its presidential flag bearer over breach of intra-party nomination process.

It is, therefore, a tightly contested race involving 17 presidential candidates, each accompanied by their running mates. The party that emerges victorious will lead the nation for the next five years (2025– 2030). for Zanzibar.

The figure represents a 26.53 per cent increase from a total of 29,754,699 voters recorded in the 2020 Permanent Voters’ Register (PVR).

Voters by gender, according to INEC, female voters are 18,950, 801, equivalent to 51.34 per cent of all voters while male are 18,696,434, forming 49.66 per cent of all voters.

Regarding polling stations, a total of 99, 895 polling stations have been allocated countrywide, out of which 97,348 are in Tanzania Mainland and 2,547 in Zanzibar.

According to INEC, eligible voters who are away from their original polling locations listed in the Permanent Voters Register (PVR) will still be allowed to cast their presidential votes from wherever they are in the country.

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A total of 8,227 voters applied and were permitted by INEC to vote in various polling stations which are different from where they previously registered.

More notably, this year’s General Election has a total number 1,729 parliamentary candidates, out of whom 558, equivalent to 32 per cent are female while 1,171, equivalent to 68 per cent are male.

Furthermore, parliamentary candidates with disabilities are 27, equivalent to 1.56 per cent of all the aspirants in the race.

The number of councillorship candidates is 7,239, out whom 718 are female, equivalent to 10 per cent and 6,521 are male, equivalent to 90 per cent of the contenders for the seats in Tanzania Mainland.

According to INEC, people with disabilities form 0.79 per cent of all councillorship candidates.

Tanzania has a total of 272 constituencies, of which 222 are in Mainland and other 50 are in Zanzibar. Moreover, the number of wards in Tanzania Mainland is 3,950.