Democratic Republic of the Congo: Whether voter's cards have continued to be issued since the 2006 elections or whether they were only issued during the elections period; the documents required to obtain the card and the authorities that issue it (2006-2010)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Publication Date | 29 November 2010 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | COD103637.FE |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Whether voter's cards have continued to be issued since the 2006 elections or whether they were only issued during the elections period; the documents required to obtain the card and the authorities that issue it (2006-2010), 29 November 2010, COD103637.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4db7c6392.html [accessed 31 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
During a 16 November 2010 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a representative of the communications service of the Independent Electoral Commission (Commission électorale indépendante, CEI) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) explained that during the registration and identification for the 2006 elections, the CEI issued voter's cards between June 2005 and February 2006 (DRC 16 Nov. 2010). The representative added that the voter's card acted as a temporary identity card and was issued for free by the CEI officers in the thousands of registration centres throughout the country (ibid.). To acquire one, requesters had to present documents, including a certificate of loss of an identity paper or a passport (ibid.).
Elimination of 2006 voter's cards
Sources consulted by the Research Directorate repeated the statement made by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior of the DRC concerning the 2011 elections: [translation] "the former voter's cards are no longer valid. All citizens are asked to acquire new voter's cards during the course of the revision of the electoral list" (Le Phare 19 July 2010; Radio Okapi 15 July 2010). According to the representative of the communications service of the CEI, since May 2010, the CEI has been revising the electoral list and issuing new voter's cards to [translation] "harmonize the electoral lists" (RDC 16 Nov. 2010). A CEI manager quoted in an article of the Kinshasa daily Le Phare also justified the changes, by referring to the [translation] "need to harmonize the lists" (19 July 2010).
Information on the documents required to obtain the new voter's card could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 16 November 2010. Commission électorale indépendante (CEI). Telephone interview with a representative of the communications service.
Le Phare [Kinshasa]. 19 July 2010. "Election de 2010 en RDC : la révision du fichier électoral s'impose!". (Digitalcongo.net)
Radio Okapi. 15 July 2010. "RD Congo : les anciennes cartes d'électeurs sont caduques."
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Attempts to contact officials of the embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Ottawa and of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in Kinshasa were unsuccessful.
Internet sites, including: Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP), Afrik.com, Afrol News, AllAfrica.com, Carter Center, La Conscience [Kinshasa], Digitalcongo.net, Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA), Le Figaro [Paris], Kongo Times.info, L'Observateur [Kinshasa], Observatoire de l'Afrique centrale (OBSAC), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF), Panapress (PANA), Le Potentiel [Kinshasa], Réseau des médias francophones (MEDIAF), Societecivile.cd, United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
