By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab
Tripoli, 6 July
The Naval Academy in Tripoli’s Janzour district is now also used as a refugees Camp for the . . .[restrict]displaced Tawerghan families. When we arrived at the Naval Academy’s main gate, we were informed that in order to be allowed in, we needed to have prior permission from the army’s chief of staff as the Naval Academy is a military base and is prohibited for civilians without prior approval.
Having been allowed in to see the Academy’s Deputy Commander, we told him that we only wanted to pay a visit to the polling station and then leave. After he agreed to this, we headed for the electoral centre which is in inside children’s playing area. Here we met Ahmed Mukhtar Alkadiki, the polling centre’s director and we asked him the following questions:
Q – When did voters registration start and how long did the registrations take?
A – The registrations started on 10 May 2012 and ended on 21 May 2012
Q – What was the turnout for the registration and what proportion of those eligible to vote did that constitute?
A – The number of registered voters was 1,444 of whom 602 were men and 842 women, which amounts to about 90 percent of the camp population who were eligible reigstered.
Q – How many families lives in the camp and what is the total population here?
A- At first there were 396 families. However, young couples have marrried inside the camp, the number of families is now 400 families. In total there are 2,137 people in the camp.
Q- Will the voting be conducted inside the camp?
A – Yes, this very hall will be prepared. It will be divided into two parts, one for women and the other for men. Voting materials will be delivered to us this evening, and as from, Thursday, 5 May this voting centre will be made ready for the electoral process on Saturday.
Q – Will votes be counted here or in Tripoli or in Misrata, where candidates are considered to be part of the area?
A – The sorting and counting process will be done here at the centre, that means the whole process will be conducted here and then results will be sent to the HNEC Office.
Q – How many workers are there in the voting centre?
A – We have 24 employees in total, 11 women and 12 men as well as me, the centre’s Director.
Q – Were there any problems during the registration process and do you expect any problems during the voting process?
A – We did not have any problem during the registration of voters and the whole process went very smoothly and easily. We do not expect any problems to happen during the voting process at all, and in any case, the Ministry of Interior has prepared a security plan in cooperation with the Supreme Security Committee. This will include forming of two rings. The first circle will consist of eight men of the national security force. Their mission is to secure the centre from the outside and organise the entry of voters. They will not have any presence inside the polling room except in case of an emergency. The second security ring, which will be mounted by the Supreme Security Committee, will be in charge of securing the perimeters of the polling station from the outside in case of any external breach of security.
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