The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) completed candidate registration in Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa administrations and the Harari, Gambela, and Benishangul-Gumuz regional states. However, it relayed that it has pushed back the deadline for candidate registration in parts of the country to Tuesday, March 9. The areas where the deadline has been extended are the Amhara, Somali, Afar, Southern, and Sidama regional states. Four zones in Oromia Regional State, including East and West Wollega, are also subject to the new deadline. Registration in Oromia Regional State, aside from the zones mentioned above, has also been carried out. The Board cited the late opening of registration offices and issues with transportation as the main reasons behind the postponement. With the Board's timeline, nationwide candidate registration was to be completed by March 5. Last month, the Board disclosed a directory of the 49,407 designated polling stations across all regions of the country with the exception of Tigray Regional State. The Board also announced that it had begun distributing election materials and equipment to the stations. Voter registration is expected to occur between late March and early April with the polling date set for June 5, 2021. The sixth national election was originally set to be held last year but was postponed due to the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020.
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