ZEC Pushes Voter Registration In Rural Areas
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is conducting a voter registration blitz targeting rural areas where ZANU PF has historically dominated in past elections, but the process is reportedly being carried out without the usual public announcements.
NewsDay reported sources as saying ZEC officials have been conducting voter registration in rural areas without making the usual public announcements that typically accompany such exercises. A villager from Gokwe was quoted as saying:
ZEC visited our community to register voters but without any public announcement. We only heard through word of mouth that ZEC was in the area. There were no posters or notifications, just officials arriving and setting up for the day.
An official from Gumunyu High School in Gokwe North, who requested anonymity, said the registration blitz was targeting learners. Said the official:
It is an exercise that is happening in all the schools in rural areas. So we were tasked to tell the learners about the process. They are targeting first-time voters born on or before September 2006.
ZEC deputy chairperson Rodney Simukai Kiwa confirmed the exercise to NewsDay but denied that the exercise was being done secretly. Said Kiwa:
There is nothing Nicodemus about it, we are not hiding anything. We have continuous voter registration, it’s not periodic.
Those electoral watchdogs should come to us and we educate them on issues around the electoral processes.
Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust executive director Ignatious Sadziwa said:
ZEC has been discreetly registering voters in several rural communities, where ZANU PF garnered the majority of its support during the 2023 general elections…
This Nicodemus and nocturnal conduct by ZEC is yet another low coming from a commission whose integrity is already in question more tellingly after presiding over a sham general election in 2023.
This clandestine operation undermines the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, eroding trust in ZEC and the entire democratic system.
By failing to publicly announce the voter registration exercise, ZEC has denied citizens their right to participate in the democratic process.
This secrecy also creates an environment conducive to manipulation, disenfranchisement, and electoral malpractices.
Election Resource Centre legal and advocacy officer Takunda Tsunga said:
While ZEC is mandated to carry out continuous voter registration, there is a constitutional obligation on ZEC to carry out its function in a transparent way.
To ensure the inclusion of all, ZEC must publicly disclose all registration activities and work with civil society organisations and political parties to alleviate any concerns around the integrity of their conduct.
ZEC is faced with a credibility crisis and their actions must be conducted in a way that restores confidence and credibility.
In previous elections, the opposition and electoral monitoring groups have alleged that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has exhibited bias favouring the ruling ZANU PF party and its candidates.
During the 2023 general elections, thousands of voters in urban areas with a history of opposition support reportedly failed to cast their ballots after ZEC allegedly failed to deliver sufficient ballot papers to some polling stations on time.
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