Wanted: flawless mobile reg

Starting this week, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in conjunction with the Registrar General’s office will roll out another round of mobile voter registration throughout the country. We urge the two bodies to learn from the mistakes of the past to ensure that nobody is unnecessarily or deliberately disenfranchised.

Paul Bogaert
Paul Bogaert

Reflecting on the first round of mobile voter registration that ended on May 19, several gaps stand out. First, officers from the RG’s department in many cases did a shoddy job. A lot of voters were frustrated by the arrogance and lack of professionalism among the officers, and failed to register. In some cases, those responsible for ensuring that people registered left them unattended for long periods, used abusive language and did not explain adequately to aspiring voters what was needed.

Second, the RG’s office failed to attend to the needs of potential voters who wished to have their identity documents regularised. We are aware of numerous cases in which those with defaced IDs did not manage to obtain new ones, despite having the money.

Third, there was deliberate misinformation, with political party representatives lying to voters regarding the dates and venues of mobile registration. This resulted in a significant voting population missing out during the first round.

Fourth, there seemed to be a deliberate strategy to circumvent areas perceived to be dominated by certain political parties, giving rise to suspicion that the RG was working in cahoots with some politicians to exclude some voters.

Fifth, the mobile registration exercise took too long to reach some areas, and insufficient consideration was made regarding the accessibility of certain registration centres. That caused some voters to stay at home, despite the fact that they intended to register.

Last, there were reports of intimidation, whereby some party activists threatened potential voters against registering.

ZEC and the RG’s office must take these into consideration and ensure that the second round of mobile registration, which we understand will be ward based, is flawless. It is clear that there is euphoria among Zimbabweans to register to vote in the next general poll this year, and the two bodies must ensure that they create an enabling environment.

Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga
Comments
  1. mwerotry
  2. Mavara Azarevhu

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *