Source: Midlands registers 620k voters in BVR exercise | The Herald December 18, 2017
Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Bureau
ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (ZEC) has so far registered 620 417 people in the Midlands Province in the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) blitz, which is expected to end tomorrow.
According to statistics released by ZEC on Saturday, Midlands, which has registered 71 percent of its projected voter population, is the second highest province in terms of the number of registered voters after Harare, which has so far registered 690 899 people.
ZEC has so far registered 4 506 210 people countrywide, against a projected voter population of 7 224 129.
Zanu-PF Midlands province has made a request to extend the blitz by a few more days to allow areas like Mberengwa, Gokwe South and Gokwe North districts that have poor road networks to be accessed to register people to vote.
Most areas in the Midlands province in Mberengwa, Gokwe North and Gokwe South districts were disconnected when bridges and roads were swept away by floods when Cyclone Dineo ripped through the country early this year.
Zanu-PF Midlands provincial chairperson Engineer Daniel Mckenzie Ncube said there was need for another blitz that specifically targets the three districts where there has been a low turnout to BVR due to various reasons.
Eng Ncube said the province had recommended an extension of BVR to allow more people to register to vote, particularly those in areas that are not accessible.
“As a province, we feel that there is need for an extension of the blitz or another phase because we have areas like Mberengwa, Gokwe North and South where numbers are quite depressed,” he said. “The statistics that we have show that the number is still far below even the number of our own registered party members. We have recommended that ZEC extend the BVR blitz and target those areas.”
Eng Ncube said Zanu-PF was still confident to surpassing the target of 800 000 which the revolutionary party intends to mobilise to register to vote.
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