VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Electoral Commission of Seychelles has begun allocating ballot papers to the country’s 26 districts, marking a critical step in preparations for the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for September 25-27, 2025.
The process started early yesterday morning at the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Mont Fleuri, with ballot papers handed over to electoral officers of each district in alphabetical order. Distribution began at 8:30am and concluded around 7pm, with fourteen districts allocated on the first day. The allocation will continue today for the remaining twelve districts, and the ECS headquarters will remain closed to the public during the process.
Ballot control officer Steve Thelermont acknowledged some delays, mainly because every single ballot is being counted carefully. ‘In the morning, we opened the sealed ballots in the presence of all political party representatives, who confirmed that nothing had been tampered with,’ he said. Counting and verification are being conducted in the presence of party representatives, election observers and ECS commissioners.
Mr Thelermont noted that some misprinted ballots were detected during the check, typically involving a missing or extra page. ‘We rather take time to see errors here at the printing house than on the day of the election,’ he said, explaining that the issue affects only one or two ballots and will not alter the total quantity. ‘Each time there is an issue we have to stop to correct it and make sure that everybody is on board and then continue.’ Despite the delays, he said the thorough approach would ensure a smoother operation on election day.
