Voter Registers : Innovative Strategies For Maximum Results

As 2025, an important electoral year for Cameroon approaches, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the elections management body, is multiplying schemes to have as many persons as possible of voting age inscribe their names on the electoral registers. As a result, the institution has come up with a number of innovative strategies to attain its objective. Amongst the tactics are proximity registration points; that is taking the registration process closer to the people. Where ELECAM has noticed a mass gathering, mobile registration points have been installed to have as many people registered as possible. For example, this is the Ramadan period of the Islamic calendar and there are many daily prayers. Using the opportunity of the mass gathering, Elections Cameroon has installed mobile registration points around mosques. This enables the institution to register many Muslim faithful who are mostly business persons and need to rush to their sales points after prayers. Their agenda is usually conflicting with the registration timetable of ELECAM. Thus, coming closer to them breaks the concept of unavailability due to time and facilitates the registration exercise. This approach is not only being implemented around mosques but also in churches, markets and popular junctions. 
There are also plans afoot for missions to be sent abroad to carry out registration of Cameroonians. This will be done within the premises of Cameroonian diplomatic missions. As explained by official of Elections Cameroon, the objective is to make the electoral process as inclusive as possible by enabling even those who are out of the country to actively exercise their civic responsibilities. And of course the missions abroad will also carry out sensitisation on the importance of partaking in elections, even when out of home.  
And one of such strategies is using community radios. In what they term “café media,” officials of the elections management body use the programme which is usually 30 minutes long to educate the local co...