Gender sensitive voter registration

Several women’s organisations held a peaceful march in Harare where they presented petitions to the Registrar General’s office, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the finance ministry and Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee.

Last week, the Nomination Court approved applicants vying for political posts from various political parties signalling that the race for political office had gained momentum. A survey by several women’s organisations revealed that the ongoing voter registration exercise had failed to recognise women’s specific needs. It noted that the elderly, women with disabilities and pregnant women were not being given special attention as some registration points were not accessible.

The petition, endorsed by Women’s Trust, members of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, women’s wings of political parties and a group of 20 women monitoring the Global Political Agreement, demanded efficiency on the registration of voters.

“The voter registration exercise must be conducted in a gender responsive manner and ZEC must facilitate decentralisation and more registration points in order to minimise distances travelled by women,” read the petition.

The petition requested the finance ministry to avail adequate resources to ensure a gender responsive registration process.

“The Registrar General must expedite service delivery at the registration points to minimise the time spent by women while they wait to be attended to. JOMIC must supervise the above mentioned bodies and ensure that our demands are acted upon immediately,” read the petition. Women’s Trust Director, Memory Kachambwa said according to the response received from the RG’s office, it was disappointing to note women’s issues were not given priority.

“The response that we got from the registrar’s office is so disappointing because they have indicated that they will treat women as equal citizens in the ongoing voter registration exercise.” Georgina Chimvura from Epworth who took part in the march said she had been motivated to become part of the initiative after facing hurdles when trying to register as a voter.

“If the RG’s office could create separate queues for women, then women would go and register in their numbers. As it is now, we are frustrated by the snail’s pace with which the officers are doing their duty,” she said. Judith Nyadete expressed optimism that women’s concerns were going to be addressed.

“Women are disadvantaged because they have a lot of work at home and taking care of children, the sick and the elderly. We have limited time and if they create separate days and venues for us to go and register, I am sure that more women would be able to exercise their democratic right to participate in the electoral processes.” According to a survey by the Women’s Trust and other affiliate women’s organisations, there is limited information on voter registration among Zimbabwean women. This resulted in few women utilising district registration centres.