Roll Out Another Blitz, ZEC Told

Warren Park legislator Hon Shakespeare Hamauswa has implored the Zimbabwe Electoral  Commission (ZEC) to carry out another voter registration blitz before the 2023 elections.

This is the second time after conclusion of the April 2022 blitz that Hamauswa has made the plea in parliament.

ZEC held two voter registration exercises this year, in February and April respectively. 

The blitz brought registration centres closer to prospective registrants. Thereby reducing distance and transport cots.

Voter registration is a continuous process at the district centres but travel costs and long distances are among identified as stumbling blocks for new registrants.

However, the voter registration blitz brings mobile registration centres closer to the prospective registrants. 

In the last blitz, ZEC introduced 2700 voter registration centres to ease the long distance and transport costs.

Election watchdogs about ZEC prioritizing a voter registration blitz at a time identity documents were inaccessible.

Nevertheless, the Register General’s office rolled out a blitz that began in April and will ended on 30 September. 

The blitz targets to issue two million new identity documents and birth certificates. 

Speaking in parliament last week, Hamauswa explained that prospective voters who were issued with identity documents for the first time over the three-month period should be encouraged to register to vote.

“I stood up on the issue before that the registration blitz done in the past should be repeated. 

“We are going towards the end of the mobile registration exercise rolled out by the Registrar General’s Office.

“Those who managed to get their IDs did not get the opportunity to do voter registration. 

“Regarding the 2023 polls, my request is that the Government should return the voter registration exercise to all districts so that everyone is registered to vote,” Hamauswa said.

Election watchdogs and other opposition political parties have made the same call.