ZEC defends ‘fake’ voters` roll
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has refuted allegations that it is distributing a fake voters` roll saying the sanitised version being distributed is meant to protect the identity of registered voters.
Addressing the media on Monday, ZEC Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said they had received reports of threats to hunt down some of the registered voters using details provided in the voters` roll.
โFollowing threats by some unscrupulous individuals to track down their victims door to door, the Commission will not issue the votersโ roll with photographs in an effort to protect voters,โ said Justice Chigumba.
The ZEC Chairperson said the full voters` roll will be availed at polling stations.
โHowever, the Commission will print votersโ rolls with photographs for every polling station. Section 20(5) of the Electoral Act states that in the event of any discrepancy between an electronic copy and a printed copy of a votersโ roll, the latter shall be deemed to be the authentic record of the votersโ roll.
โZEC would therefore like to dismiss allegations that the consolidated votersโ roll is fake because it does not contain votersโ photographs,โ she said.
Justice Chigumba added: โThe Commission is disturbed by malicious allegations that the votersโ roll issued to stakeholders is fake. ZEC is of the view that such allegations are deliberately meant to cause alarm and despondency among the generality of the Zimbabwean populace. The public is being advised that the votersโ roll being distributed by the Commission is authenticโ.
This comes after some opposition political parties slammed the electoral body for producing a โfakeโ voters` roll which did not contain some of the critical information.
The voters` roll was produced following the biometric voter registration process which was used to register voters.