Electoral Act amendment triggers mixed reactions
THE government has approved the amendment of the Electoral Act, a key legislation in the country’s electoral and political processes ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections. The following are reactions from the Election Resource Centre (ERC) on the Electoral Amendment Bill of 2022.
Clause 2&3: This clause amends the definition section (section 4) of the Electoral Act by removing a driver’s licence as one of the documents to be used as proof of identity for electoral purposes. Some driver’s licence do not reflect citizenry on the face of them. In terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, one has to be a citizen in order to qualify as a voter. Accordingly, only a valid passport or national identity will be required as proof of identity.
This is a welcome amendment to the electoral law as it will clarify the use of the driver’s licence in electoral processes. This is also in sync with the requirements of the biometric voter registration (BVR) process introduced in 2017 and a welcomed alignment of the Electoral Act to other laws and practices. However, efforts must be made by the commission, through voter education, to ensure that citizens are made aware of the documents to be used as proof of identity for electoral purposes. Clause 6&9: Guided by the principle that offenders who would be disqualified from continuing to sit in Parliament should not be admitted into Parliament, this clause will require every candidate to make a solemn declaration in a nomination form or by means of an attached affidavit, that he or she is not a convicted of a disqualifying offence (or has received a pardon for such offence).
This is a progressive clause. However, caution must be exercised in enforcing this provision of the law to guard against its partial application on political parties. This is necessary to ensure that the law is not used to settle political scores. To ensure a conducive environment for a free and fair election, the law must not be applied selectively.
Clause 3, 4, 5, 6&11: The Constitution provides for the 30% female quota in respect of councillors for local authorities and for there to be one youth elected to the National Assembly by indirect proportional representation for each province.
ERC welcomes this development. However, we urge the relevant authorities to ensure that the quota system is implemented in full compliance with the law.
In summary, ERC is of the view that for Zimbabwe to increase the credibility of its electoral process, there is a need to urgently address the following four key areas as also identified by election observer missions that were in Zimbabwe for the 2018 Harmonised elections:
i) Public broadcaster and media coverage: All political parties must be granted equal media coverage by the public broadcasters and publishers. This ensures that citizens have access to information on all political parties and candidates contesting in elections as supported by the electoral laws.
ii) The conduct of traditional leaders: as per the dictates of the Constitution, traditional leaders must not further the interests of any political party or candidate or in any way participate in partisan politics.
iii) Independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec):In administering its constitutional mandate to oversee elections, Zec must be impartial and independent.
iv) Election dispute resolution (mechanisms): There is a need to create accessible and functional mechanisms that ensure that electoral disputes are resolved, and ensuring the credibility of electoral processes. Election Resource Centre