ZIMBABWES upcoming harmonised elections, scheduled for August 23, have already surpassed
expectations with an impressive 6.5 million registered voters, up from 5.8 million in the last election
cycle.
In an interview with New Ziana on Wednesday, the ZEC Chief Elections Officer Utoile Silaigwana
confirmed that the number of eligible voters has increased to 6.5 million and that the voters' roll is
now credible.
“We have 6.5 million registered voters,” he said.
Despite some challenge, Zimbabweans have shown their commitment to the democratic process by
actively participating in the registration of voters.
Silaigwana said ZEC now has credible voters’ following the successful inspection of the voters’ roll. A
total of 1.2 million people physically inspected their details on the voters’ roll, following a rigorous
process conducted last month.
“The number I gave you can change because people die every day. Some died yesterday and others
may die before going for election. What you must know is that the voters’ roll is a living document,
even if I give the total number of registered voters today, by polling day some people would have
died, and therefore they will still remain on the voters’ roll …
“There is no voters’ roll which is 100 percent. Some families, especially in rural areas delay going to
office of the Registrar to register the death of their relative and you can’t remove the deceased.
“The reason we took our voters’ roll for inspection is that (if there are) any anomalies they are
corrected. And the Commission has corrected all those abnormalities that were identified by either
the voters or administratively. I can tell you that we have a credible voters’ roll,” said ZEC Chief
Elections Officer.
The ZEC has been working tirelessly to ensure a smooth election process, and according to ZEC Chief
Elections Officer, the commission has done everything within its power to make sure the roll is as
credible as possible.