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Voter registration drive: A reminder to ZEC
Jack Zaba
January 14, 2013

The year 2013 has witnessed a near convergence of thought amongst political actors with regards to the road toward the next general election. Accordingly political leadership including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has embarked on a seemingly more serious path aimed at facilitating a smooth administration of the imminent elections. This has witnessed a flurry of meetings between his office, ZEC and other relevant electoral stakeholders.

Notably, the national discourse in the past few weeks have been characterized by debate over the impending mobile voter registration drive. The proposed registration exercise has already failed to take off as originally planned owing to pronounced financial challenges. Brick bats have been thrown amongst high ranking cabinet ministers with accusations of unwillingness on the part of some parties to the GPA to embark on a registration drive. For instance, reports suggest that the acting Minster of Finance, Theresa Makone accused ZANU PF of stalling the release of funds for the mobile exercise because they have suspected "fear of the unknown" regarding who the new registrants might vote for. However ZANU PF Secretary for Administration vehemently denied this. Commendably the national leadership seems determined to provide such resources basing on numerous media reports to that effect.

As resources for a state funded voter registration exercise are being mobilized, it is important to give a reminder to the sole institution mandated with this exercise- the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on the challenges that for long militated against a fair, comprehensive and transparent voter registration process in Zimbabwe. Such challenges, if not attended to, have the potential to resurface even within the framework of the planned registration drive. It is therefore incumbent upon ZEC to ensure that all the concerns that for long have been raised by political parties, media and civic society relating to the pitfalls of Zimbabwe's voter registration system need to be attended to before embarking on the intended voter registration exercise.

It is crucial for ZEC to remember that the world over, the process of registering voters can make or break an election. The quality of this process and its resultant product (voters' roll) can indeed determine the outcome of an election and consequently the stability of the democratic institutions in a country. Realizing that Zimbabwe is littered with a history of disputed elections especially in the last two decades, ZEC has been given a historical mandate to extricate the electoral processes from the swirling allegations of malpractices, manipulation and fraud.

Therefore, in their preparations for an effective registration drive, ZEC is encouraged to remember and attend to the following concerns regarding the process of registering voters in Zimbabwe;

• Section 17A of the Electoral Act provides for a continuous registration of voters in between elections. The recent focus on mobile voter registration without properly conscientizing the electorate can potentially mislead the uninformed citizens into believing that registration only happens when ZEC finally gets resources from treasury and it-s possibly a two months event. ZEC is compelled to remind Zimbabweans that even outside the state initiated mobile voter registration drive, the electorate has an opportunity to apply for registration or make related changes to the details of those already registered. Accordingly ZEC ought to remember that the continuous voter registration process in Zimbabwe has been heavily affected by the absence of requisite continuous voter education to raise awareness on the accessibility of such facilities. The mobile registration exercise requires a more robust voter education campaign preceding it in order to realise the intended goals.
  
• ZEC also need to be reminded that previous experience has witnessed a voter registration system that is difficult to navigate for new registrants. Numerous reports have indicated the fact that potential registrants face difficulties in acquiring proof of residency invariably because some landlords (urban electorate) or traditional leaders (rural electorate) are unwilling to issue letters confirming the residency of citizens who possibly could be of different political inclination to either the land owner or traditional leader in question. Before the next mobile registration, ZEC ought to know that it has been difficult for most citizens of Zimbabwe to acquire the rather stringent documentation needed during the application process. Consequently the registration process has disenfranchised a significant number of potential voters. If the stringent requirements related to proof of residency are to be retained under the planned registration drive, the country is inevitably going to witness further disenfranchisement of potential voters. ZEC can however take advantage of the "level of discretion" bequeathed upon the registration officials in Section 23 of the Electoral Act which implies that the officials "may" or "may not" demand proof of residency to ascertain the residency status of an applicant. Indeed this would become a relief to many potential registrants and it works well under the state assisted decentralization of voter and civil registration which is imminent. As ZEC remembers the aforementioned challenges it is time they seriously consider relaxing the demand for proof of residency during the intended mobile registration exercise.
  
• As the planned registration exercise becomes reality, ZEC also ought to remember that numerous reports from civic organizations indicated the serious dearth of professionalism amongst the registration officials. Allegations of partisanship were abound, with mostly youths and other potential registrants being turned away from the registration centres on apparent suspicion that they have a propensity toward supporting non-ZANU PF political formations. The officials would therefore use varying tactics and excuses aimed at frustrating the concerned citizens from further pursuing their dream of being registered voters. Inevitably this has and continues to disenfranchise a growing number of potential registrants. In recruiting and deploying the registration personnel, indeed ZEC needs to put mechanisms that would limit cases of partisanship by officials during the planned registration process.

These reminders and many other challenges have for long been bedevilling the country's voter registration system resulting in disillusionment especially amongst the new generation of voters. As all stakeholders including political parties and civic society strive for a dispute free and legitimate election in 2013, it is imperative to establish a more transparent and comprehensive voter registration system which is insulated from possible manipulation by political players. A defective voter's roll emanating from a less transparent voter registration exercise is a sure source of electoral disputations.

It is fact that the registration process provides an opportunity for unscrupulous political actors to reduce the number of their competitors through several malpractices aimed at disenfranchising potential voters. It is therefore time for ZEC embraces inclusivity and design regulations that aim at enfranchising all eligible Zimbabweans, and this happens through provision of adequate information on voter registration, reducing the cost of registration on the voter and limiting the chances of fraud and related malpractices during the otherwise welcome exercise which is imminent.

*Jack Zaba is an elections practitioner based in Harare. You can contact him on zabajack09 [at] gmail [dot] com

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