Tineyi (30), not his real name, works for a non-governmental organisation. He registered to vote in the last election and with the talk of elections in the near future, he recently went to the RG’s office to check his name.
“I could not believe what I saw on the voters’ roll. My ID number had changed and so had my address, date of birth and names. Before the 2008 harmonised elections, I suffered the same predicament and underwent the cumbersome process of correcting the anomalies so that I could vote,” he said.
He was astonished to learn that other human rights activists had their details constantly altered on the voters’ roll. “I call upon people not to relax until the election date. They will be turned away if the details appearing on the voters roll differ with what is on their identity documents,” he warned.
Kumbirai Mafunda, communications officer for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said tampering with the voters roll to disenfranchise voters was a violation of human rights. “If reports of tampering are true, it is scandalous in a country that claims to be democratic,” he said.
According to law, voter registration is voluntary and continuous and closes 24 hours before nomination day. It is done by the constituency registrar, who is subject to the supervision of ZEC.
Applicants simply present national identity cards and proof of residence and are issued with registration certificates. The voters’ rolls are supposed to be open to public inspection at the constituency registrar during office hours and copies must be supplied to the public on payment of a prescribed fee.
“When I got at Makombe Building in Harare to check my details, I was presented with a new form on which the official wrote my new details to correct the wrong ones. He told me to keep the form safely until election date in order to reconcile any discrepancies if any,” said Charity (27), who also felt it was unsafe to disclose her real identity.
“The department of births and deaths became computerised a long time ago. It is baffling that the names of people long dead still appear on the voters’ roll. Workers at the RG’s office should use computers rather than doing the process manually – which leads to lots of mistakes,” complained Rosemary Marimba.
Analysis of the roll by the Election Support Network last year showed a high presence of ghost voters and a high level of ignorance among voters. ZEC is tasked by law with conducting voter education that is adequate, accurate and unbiased.
According to ZEC chairperson, Justice Simpson Mtambenengwe, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede’s sole control of the country’s electoral system ceased in 2004. But ZEC officials, who have conducted elections since 2005,said they could not alter anything on the voters’ roll as it was still a prerogative of the RG’s office.
“We normally get the voters roll from the RG’s Office a few days before election date. We have no power to amend anything,” said a ZEC official who requested anonymity for fear of a backlash.
Both wings of the MDC accuse Mudede of manipulating the voters’ roll to favour President Mugabe’s former sole ruling party and rig elections. They are clamouring for access to the roll, which Mudede consistently denies.
“We have not fully spelt out how to carry out this exercise, but we must produce a voters’ roll that’s credible to all political parties and voters,” Mtambanengwe told reporters earlier this year.
Post published in: News