Major obstacles remained to free and fair elections as Namibians prepared to go to the polls. In the months leading to the independence elections — scheduled for early November — intimidation persisted as the South African authorities continued to deploy Koevoet police combat units. By mid-September, with six weeks to polling day, electoral rules and the powers of the constituent assembly had still not been agreed.
Despite incidents of intimidation at some reception centres, the return of refugees and exiles under the supervision of the UN High Commission for Refugees was almost concluded by the beginning of September. Nearly 40,000 of the approximately 42,000 refugees who had registered had returned and all but 2,000 moved out of temporary reception centres, with the assistance of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN). Other refugees made their own arrangements to return.
Voter registration was due to end on 15 September but was extended by a week. By the fifteenth, over 680,000 people had registered, which the South African authorities calculated was more than the estimated electorate. However, the registration was unbalanced, with far more than predicted being recorded in the south and fewer in northern areas and some towns. The high numbers in the south were attributed partly to South Africans eligible to vote, thousands of whom crossed the border to register.
SWAPO stated that South African estimates greatly underestimated the population in the north, especially in the Ovambo bantustan, and that up to 100,000 people had been unable to register because of inadequate facilities. Swapo said that mobile registering teams had been inadequate in Ovambo and had at times been accompanied by police combat units. Similar objections were raised by international monitoring groups. Farm workers also experienced difficulties in registering.
There were registration problems in Walvis Bay, where no registration centres were set up because the area is still directly administered by South Africa. The 15,000 voters in the enclave had to travel to Swakopmund to register, passing through South African roadblocks. SWAPO was prevented from campaigning in Walvis Bay.
The UN has declared — in Security Council Resolution 432 of 1978 — that Walvis Bay and offshore islands also claimed by South Africa are an integral part of Namibia, but in terms of the independence plan, the 'reintegration' of the territories will be dealt with after independence.
Electoral regulations — to be drawn up by the South African authorities and approved by the UN — should have been finalised by 12 May. Draft legislation drawn up by the South African Administrator-General was published at the end of July but it was widely criticised and shelved by the UN. A party-list system of proportional representation and a cumbersome process of verifying and counting votes involving repeated opening of the ballot boxes was proposed, which observers said was open to manipulation. The draft law also allowed police, but not agents of political parties, to be present at polling stations and gave the Administrator-General power to control the timing of the election. Most observer groups, as well as SWAPO and the CCN, called for a simplified system with a centralised voters roll.
A draft proclamation setting out the composition and role of the elected constituent assembly was rejected by SWAPO and most observer groups as an attempt to undermine the UN plan for independence. The plan itself does not specify the nature of the assembly. The Administrator-General proposed that a 72-member assembly be elected, with the sole brief of drawing up a constitution — the implication being that a further election would be held without UN supervision to decide on a government. The Administrator-General would remain in control — the assembly would be able to submit requests and recommendations to him 'with a view to the attainment of independence', but he would not be obliged to give them effect.
The draft proclamation also specified several constitutional principles to be adopted by the assembly, and allowed the courts to overrule any deviation from these principles. Furthermore, in a clause prohibiting candidates with criminal records, the draft proclamation effectively excluded leading SWAPO members such as Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, who have been convicted of political offences.
Negotiations over the electoral arrangements and the constituent assembly continued between the South African and UN authorities throughout August and at the end of the month a UN legal expert was despatched to Windhoek to try and resolve the dispute. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution which noted that the provisions of the independence plan were not being fully complied with, and demanded 'strict compliance by all parties concerned, especially South Africa'. The resolution asked the UN Secretary-General to 'ensure that all legislation concerning the electoral process is in conformity with the provisions of the Settlement Plan.'
Eleven parties and electoral alliances applied to register on 12 September to participate in the elections. Apart from SWAPO and five small parties, five alliances registered: Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), representing mainly parties based in the disbanded second-tier and bantustan administrations; United Democratic Front (UDF), also based on bantustan administrations; Namibia National Front (NNF), based around the South West Africa National Union – Progressives (SWANU-P); National Patriotic Front (NPF), consisting of groups associated with the disbanded South African-installed central administration; Federal Convention of Namibia (FCN), based around the disbanded Rehoboth bantustan administration.
Election campaigning started long before the registration of parties on 12 September. All the main groups held meetings or rallies in most urban centres. SWAPO rallies were the best attended, although SWAPO's campaign was hampered by revelations that detainees held in refugee camps on suspicion of being South African spies had been maltreated and in some cases tortured. SWAPO pledged to hold to account those responsible and to work towards reconciliation. The CCN also committed itself to reconciliation. Many ex-detainees remained with or rejoined SWAPO.
The SWAPO president, Sam Nujoma, arrived to a huge reception on 14 September. Fears were expressed for the safety of the SWAPO leaders when it was disclosed that South African police would be responsible for protecting them, especially after the assassination of Anton Lubowski in Windhoek on 12 September.
