Coronavirus: ZEC Guidelines On Voter Registration & Nomination Courts
4 years agoWed, 09 Sep 2020 10:33:13 GMT
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has published the COVID-19 Policy on Electoral Activities which is meant to provide guidance on procedures and conduct of electoral activities/processes in a COVID-19 prone environment.
According to the electoral body’s policy document, this is how voter registration and the nomination courts will work under the “new normal”:
Voter Registration
- Voter registration will be done at all the ZEC offices in the Provinces and Districts
- Any person seeking to be registered and all visitors to ZEC offices will be subject to temperature checks and sanitizing before entry and the social distancing of at least one metre for all persons and visitors.
- It will be compulsory for all persons entering ZEC premises to be wearing face masks.
- All Biometric Registration Kit components especially the fingerprint scanner to be wiped down with disinfectant or sanitizer (not spraying or pouring the fluid) before use by the next voter.
- Voters can inspect the voters’ roll using the online link bvrinspection.zec.org.zw on the ZEC website.
- The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will provide mobile (USSD) platform that can also be used to check voters’ registration details.
- The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission be categorized as an essential service provider to facilitate freedom of movement during an election in a lockdown environment.
Nomination Courts
- Nomination forms can be downloaded from the ZEC website www.zec.org.zw collected from ZEC Offices.
- Those unable to download the forms may pick up nomination forms from any ZEC office but shall be subject to compulsory temperature checks and sanitizing before entry.
- It will be compulsory for all persons entering ZEC premises to be wearing face masks.
- The mandatory social distancing shall be maintained in the Nomination Courts.
- It shall not be necessary for aspiring candidates or their representatives to remain in the Nomination Court once their nomination papers have been adjudged to be in order and accepted by the nomination officer. The public announcement of the successful candidates will be made at the close of proceedings by nomination officers.
- Aspiring candidates are encouraged to lodge Nomination Court papers in advance at ZEC offices in order to decongest nomination courts on nomination day.
- Limited numbers of people will be allowed to access Nomination Courts upon meeting conditions stipulated by ZEC in line with statutory guidance on gatherings issued from time to time.
- A nomination court register of attendees will be introduced for the purposes of contact tracing should the need arise.