ZEC had set January 3 as the official date for the commencement of the voter registration exercise but it failed to kick off last week due to lack of finance to support the process. The countrywide exercise is expected to run for three months, ahead of elections which will be held this year.
During the exercise, Zimbabweans are required to register as new voters and confirm whether their details on the voters’ roll are correct. According to ZEC, $21 million is needed for the process but the Treasury announced that it was going to release only $3 million for the initial launch of the official voter’s registration.
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said ZEC should take the voter registration seriously.
“If we are going to have elections this year then ZEC should take the issue of voters’ registration seriously. At the moment we have been engaged in voter’s registration campaigns but people were only registering at the District Registrar General’s offices countrywide,” he said. He said the commencement of the official registration process was crucial as it would enable people to access voter’s registration centers easily. “Mobile registration will enable people to register easily at a ward level. You find that in rural areas, it is not easy for people to just visit the District offices because of the distance,’’ he said.
Director of Elections for MDC-N, Ellen Shiriyedenga, said she was not surprised by the failure of the voter’s registration to kick off as it could be a ploy to derail the exercise. “This could be a ploy to disturb the voter’s registration exercise,” she said.
Election Resource Centre Director, Tawanda Chimhini, said the official registration process would enable an update of the current voters’ roll. “ If we are to have a clean voters’ roll before the elections, ZEC should prioritise commencing the voters registration soon. At the moment we cannot say we have a voters’ roll that is up to date and can be used in the coming election,” said Chimhini.
Post published in: News