This follows recent protests by some residents in Lupane alleging that their dead relatives remain on the voters’ roll – raising suspicions that somebody else is voting on their behalf.
The National Coordinator, Wellington Zindove, said: “Citizens must not only focus on registering, but should also check the names of their dead relatives. We need a clean voters roll. The Youth Forum believes every vote counts, but only if it is a legal vote. Allowing dead people to remain on the roll is equal to daylight robbery. Every single vote will make a huge difference. This issue must be taken seriously without fail,” Zindove emphatically told The Zimbabwean.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have warned that unless the voters’ roll is reviewed by an independent body, the credibility of the next general election could be called into question.
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Deputy Chairperson, Joyce Kazembe, “dead people are not removed from the voters roll if nobody bothers to register them as dead because the Registrar General has no legal authority to remove anyone until somebody comes with an affidavit that this person is dead.”
The last time voters’ roll was opened for inspection the country had 5,658,637 eligible voters, according to the registrar-general’s office.
The MDC has threatened to boycott the elections unless government agrees to reform the electoral process in accordance with the Southern Africa Development Community guidelines, which include the appointment of an independent electoral commission.
Post published in: News