Source: Registered voters near 5m – DailyNews Live
Farayi Machamire 18 January 2018
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) registered 64 670 new
voters in the first five days of a mop-up exercise that opened on January
10, bringing the cumulative total of people registered to vote in this
year’s election to about five million.
The mop-up exercise was necessitated by low turnout in some provinces and
a High Court judgment that ordered the commission to registers “aliens”
who previously were denied the right.
Zec chief elections officer Constance Chigwamba said the commission was on
course to reach its revised target of to register 5,5 million voters ahead
of the 2018 harmonised elections.
As at January 15, 2018, Zec had registered 64 670 people under the mop-up
voter registration exercise scheduled to run from January 10, 2018 to
February 8, 2018.
These registrants are from 389 centres out of 449 registration centres.
Statistics from the remaining 60 centres had not yet been submitted due to
communication challenges.
“These figures are provisional as they are yet to undergo verification and
the de-duplication process,” Chigwamba said.
“The commission wishes to advise the public that certain categories of
persons previously classified as alien can register to vote during the
biometric voter registration (BVR) mop up exercise if they have long birth
certificates that indicate that, one they were born in or outside Zimbabwe
but either of their parents are citizens of Zimbabwe or they were born in
Zimbabwe and one or both of their parents are citizens of a Southern
African Development Community country and that they were ordinarily
resident in Zimbabwe on the day of the publication of the Constitution on
22 May 2013.”
Chigwamba said the end of the mop up exercise will not mark the end of
voter registration as the registration process will continue at 63 Zec
District Offices until 12 days after nomination court for the 2018
harmonised elections.
“Aspiring registrants should take along with them their proof of residence
and identity documents in the form of paper or metal or plastic
identification cards or valid passports. Persons with national IDs
inscribed alien should also present their long birth certificates and
copies of the same when registering,” Chigwamba added.
Zec embarked on a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) mop up exercise from
January 10 to February 8, 2018 with 2 850 mobile and 87 static
registration centres being established across the country.
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