Electoral Commission in DRC Invalidates Votes for 82 Candidates Due to Illegal Activities

The Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission (CENI) has taken the decision to nullify the votes cast for 82 candidates who participated in the legislative and local council elections.

As reported by Africannews on Friday (Jan. 05), the head of CENI cited illegal activities as the grounds for cancellation, which encompassed charges such as fraud, illegal possession of voting materials, and intimidation.

Notably, among the affected candidates, 12 belonged to the presidential party, and the number increased to over 20 when considering candidates associated with political groups within the ruling coalition. Additionally, three sitting ministers were among those named.

The Congolese populace participated in simultaneous presidential, parliamentary, and local polls starting from December 20.

In response to this development, the main opposition candidates in the presidential election released a statement on Saturday questioning how, in an election with a single ballot paper, fraud allegations could be isolated and not considered to impact the entire general election.