Calls for another Zec mobile blitz

ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (Zec) has been implored to conduct another mobile registration blitz to capture people who failed to register in the first and second phases of the exercise.

This was said by EkhayaVote2023, a coalition of over 30 civil society organisations in Bulawayo and Matabeleland provinces.

This follows complaints that people failed to register during the two phases because they had no national identity documents.

“We urge the Register-General’s Office to deploy more personnel at outreach centres to deal with long queues and issues of limited numbers of citizens documents processed on a daily basis that has reportedly slowed down the process,” EkhayaVote2023 said.

Zec spokesman Jasper Mangwana said: “The commission will advise in due course if there will be any new mobile blitz, but for now, its focusing on delimitation of boundaries for the 2023 elections. Voter registration will continue as the law states for voter registration to be conducted on a continuous basis so as to keep the voters roll up to date.”

“The second mobile voter blitz is what ended, but voter’s registration continues in the 63 district offices and 10 provincial offices. These offices will be open during working hours and will serve people who want to transfer or edit any change to voters’ registration details.”

These services are offered until the cut-off date for registering voters which will be determined by the proclamation date for the 2023 election date.

“While there has been a slight increase in voter registration numbers, we still have a long way to go if the constitutional imperative of universal adult suffrage is to be achieved. More work needs to be done to ensure that voter registration information is easily accessible by the common man,” Citizen Coalition for Change spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said.