Warren Park legislator, Shakespeare Hamauswa, has expressed concern over the low number of registered voters ahead of next year’s harmonised elections.
His concern comes after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) released statistics on the voter population as of June 10, 2022, which showed that a total of 5 804 975 people had registered.
Out of that number, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland North had the lowest numbers of registered people at 267 308, 270 914, and 340 405 respectively.
“My point of national interest concerns the low rate of voter registration,” said Hamauswa in the National Assembly Thursday.
“If we check the current levels of the people who are registering to vote, it is really worrisome. As we move towards 2023 elections, I do not think it will be a good thing to keep quiet as if things are okay.”
He further said: “This is why I am raising this issue in this august House so that the Minister of Justice may call upon ZEC to do another voter registration blitz similar to what happened in the first quarter of this year. During the first quarter, voter registration programmes came before the mobile issuance of identification documents, yet the I.Ds are a prerequisite for voter registration. As a result, when we were mobilising people to vote, they faced the challenge that they had no I.Ds.”
The legislator said it was important for the government to do something about it.
“Therefore Mr Speaker Sir, I am humbly requesting that the Minister of Justice considers and ensures that ZEC does again another voter registration blitz so that Zimbabweans will be able to register to vote and exercise their right and duty to vote next year.”
In his response, National Assembly Speaker, Jacob Mudenda asked the lawmaker to raise the issue during the question and answer session with ministers this week.
