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Donor Priorities for Democratization Support to Somaliland:
Voter Registration
One of the priorities expressed by multiple donor interviewees was the need for Somaliland to
conduct civil and/or voter registration. The absence of an acceptable voter registry has
historically been a critical weakness of and source of tension during Somaliland’s electoral
process, and the lack of a comprehensive civil registry has governance and service delivery
implications. Some donor interviewees expressed sentiments such as, “It's clear that there's a
need for voter registration to take place,” and “the voter registration list continues to be a
concern.” Other donor interviewees looked to the development of a civil registry
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that will
double as a voter registry; if Somaliland maintains a comprehensive and continuously updated
civil register, a voter list could be drawn from it in advance of each election. Support for this
approach stems primarily from concerns that the amount of time remaining before Somaliland’s
next scheduled election is too limited to allow for the conduct of separate civil and voter
registries.
Beyond identifying voter registration as a priority for Somaliland, donors and their
implementing partners had mixed perspectives on the role their individual organizations should
play in supporting a civil or voter registration exercise and the method for doing so. One donor,
for example, explained that while “donors in general all know it’s important,” a civil registry is
not something it is currently interested in funding given the expense of such an endeavor.
Another donor cautioned against the conduct of biometric voter registration, citing prior
experiences of the international community in supporting biometric registration in advance of
the 2010 presidential election. Also citing the 2010 experience, one interviewee explained:
As you will have heard, parliament’s mandate has been extended by two years.
So now you’re looking at a scenario that clearly opens up the timeframe for a
registration process, let’s say a civil registration process which could ultimately
be used to generate voter registration in the future…we are obviously very keen
to make sure that lessons don’t need to be learned a second time where the old
experience can be built on… There’s a bit of concern that the opportunity of this
period might be sliding without being utilized.
Following the 2010 and 2012 electoral processes, virtually all stakeholders set a complete and
adequate voter registry as a pre-requisite for future elections. Given that parliamentary and
presidential elections are quickly approaching, the international community will need to make
decisions soon, in concert with the Somaliland government, as to which type of registration
process to prioritize for support: a voter registry, civil registry or a civil registry that can double
as a voter registry. Additionally, a determination will need to be made as to whether or not to
pursue biometric registration.
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At the time interviews were conducted, the International Organization for Migration had recently initiated a pilot
civil registration exercise. It was clear from interviews that donors prioritized the compilation of a voter registry,
however it is unclear the extent to which they prioritized the conduct of civil registration independent of its
potential use as a source for drawing a voter registry.
