ZEC embarks on phase two voter registration

Harare (New Ziana) – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has established 2 090 sites throughout the country for the second phase of the intensive mobile biometric voter registration exercise, running from April 11 to 30.

The first phase was conducted between February 1 and 28.

The intensive voter registration exercise will inform the delimitation exercise to set new constituency boundaries for the 2023 harmonised elections.
ZEC chief elections officer, Utoile Silaigwana said roving voter registration teams would be camped at various designated sites for a limited number of days, including on weekends, between 7:30 AM and 5 PM.

According to the Zec schedule, Mashonaland West Province has been allocated 245 sites, Mashonaland East 241, Masvingo 276, Bulawayo 82, Midlands 262, Mashonaland Central 240, Matabeleland South 165, Manicaland 201, Matabeleland North 141, and Harare 237.

“Only those who are 18 years and above qualify to register,” Silaigwana said.

“The category of persons whose national IDs are inscribed “Alien eligible to register” should have long birth certificates that indicate that they were born in or outside Zimbabwe but one of their parents are citizens of Zimbabwe or they were born in Zimbabwe and one or both of their parents are citizens of a Southern African Development Community country and that they were ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe on the day of the publication of the Constitution on 22 May 2013.”

The mobile registration centres are on top of the 73 permanent registration offices countrywide.

According to Zec, 81 742 people registered during the first phase of the intensive voter registration exercise in February and in March.

Of the total, 38 132 were female while 43 610 were males.

According to the statistics, people aged between 18 -35 constituted the highest number of new registrants with 62 231, while the 36-49 age group contributed 14 460 people and the 50-79 age group saw 4 994 people register.

The 80+ age group saw only 57 people registered.

The voter registration blitz is part of several pre-election activities that ZEC and other relevant stakeholders have lined up in preparation for the 2023 polls.

One such stakeholder, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, is preparing to conduct a national population census this year whose results will also guide the creation of new electoral boundaries to be used in 2023.

The population census is being held a year earlier specifically for that purpose.

In December last year, ZEC revealed that it had only registered close to 3 000 new voters during the course of the whole year.

New Ziana