ZEC must extend voter exercise

EDITOR — With Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) nearing its conclusion, there are areas which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has not yet reached to get the seven million targeted voters.

Last week, ZEC requested more funds so that they could reach some of the areas which they had not covered during the second phase of the voter registration exercise.

To date, at least more than three million voters have registered against the targeted 7,2 million.

It should be appreciated if ZEC extends the duration of the voter registration exercise so that those who wish to register to vote do so.

Many Zimbabweans in the Diaspora will be coming home for the festive season as well as to register to vote especially those in South Africa and Botswana.

With the new political dispensation, a number of these Zimbabweans who are optimistic that employment creation and economic development are underway, so it would be great if ZEC recognised these citizens by giving them an opportunity to register.

According to the Zimbabwe Peace Project, the extension of the BVR exercise is justifiable considering that the rainy season has just begun and the majority of citizens in the rural areas are busy planting in their fields and may not have had the time or opportunity to travel to the registration centres to register to vote.

There are also those who made the time to register, but may have been discouraged by the charges levied by traditional leaders for proof of residence documentation and were unable to register.

The delay in the pronouncement on the “alien” issue is another reason why ZEC needs to extend the BVR exercise. Those citizens whose national identification documents were stamped “alien” have only had two weeks to register as voters, a period which is clearly inadequate.

It is our hope as a Zimbabweans that ZEC extends the registration period so that all Zimbabweans exercise their right to vote. Charles Chigudu, Harare.