Opposition party Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) says the time allocated for voter’s roll inspection by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is not sufficient, owing to the numerous challenges that affected the process.
ZEC started the inspection process on 27 May and it will be closing on June 2, 2023.
There had been an outcry from citizens and candidates who are failing to find their names on the voter’s roll while some were moved to polling stations either far from their homes or to constituencies they do not belong to.
CCC National Deputy Spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziba called on ZEC to follow the dictates of the law in fixing the anomalies, cleaning the voter’s roll and availing it to interested parties.
Siziba said pre-election processes have a bearing on the election itself hence they need to be conducted with much diligence.
“The Commission must do the right thing. These pre-election process have a bearing on the actual election. The Commission must follow the dictates of the law as far as elections are concerned, not the dictates of political players because leaders of political parties come and go yet the institutions of the state stay forever,” Siziba said.
“ZEC must therefore have fidelity to the Constitution not to individuals. ZEC must be answerable to the laws of this country as they are stated in the Constitution and the Electoral Act that governs the conduct of the Commission.”
Siziba said they expect that ZEC, realising that there are anomalies and a plethora of problems, particularly of people who cannot find their names, must allocate more time for the inspection process to allow the necessary corrections.
“ZEC must do two things, give people enough time to check and verify their names and polling stations and they must avail the voters roll. The voter’s roll is an area of contestation. The law is very clear that the voter’s roll must be given to all interested parties in a search and auditable manner,” he said.
“We expect the voter’s roll to be cleaned to the satisfaction of everyone. We want to get the voter’s roll which is going to work on the day of the election so that we are able to do our own audit and verification as interested parties because that’s what the law says.”
After the proclamation of the election date by President Mnangagwa on 31 May, citizens who wish to participate in the 23 August polls have up to 2 June to register as voters.
