Parly committee satisfied with voter registration Monday, 24 June 2013 04:22 View Comments Paul Madzore Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter THE Parliamentary portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs has expressed satisfaction with voter registration being carried out by the Registrar-General’s office ahead of harmonised elections scheduled for July 31. The committee, chaired by Glen View South House of Assembly member Mr Paul Madzore (MDC-T), had been on a whirlwind tour of various provinces to assess the exercise. The Registrar-General of Voters Office embarked on a 30-day intensive voter registration exercise in the wake of the publication of the new Constitution on May 23. Intensive voter registration — provided for by the Sixth Schedule Part 3 Section 6 (3) of the new Constitution — began on May 23, the day after the publication of the new Constitution and escalated with the introduction of the mobile component earlier this month. The new Constitution stipulates that, ‘‘The Registrar-General of Voters, under the supervision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, must conduct a special and intensive voter registration and a voters’ roll inspection exercise for at least thirty days after the publication day.’’ The new Constitution was published on May 22, meaning the 30 day registration exercise lapsed on Friday though the mop up exercise continues until July 12 in line with provisions of the amended Electoral Act. In an interview after completing the tour, Mr Madzore said the process was being conducted well, but bemoaned the poor resources allocated by the Ministry of Finance. “We know that they tried under difficult circumstances,” said Mr Madzore. He, however, said the distribution of registration centres left a lot to be desired in that some of them were a distance from where some people resided. “The distribution of centres was not enough, our people are very poor and for them to raise a dollar for transport to go and register is difficult. “We foresee some people failing to register because of distance,” he said. Mr Madzore said there was need to structure the centre in a manner that catered for the elderly and the disabled so that they do not travel long distances. He also bemoaned the absence of adequate resources such as cameras. This was after the committee was told that some mobile registration teams were sharing cameras. On aliens, Mr Madzore said the committee found that their registration was going on well and they were assured of participating in the country’s mainstream politics. He, however, said there was need for publicity to ensure that aliens were registered. Under the old Constitution, some people were not eligible to vote because they were regarded as aliens. They were, however, able to change their status and register as voters under the new Constitution. There was also a marked increase in the number of people who were changing their wards either because they were lodgers or because some aspiring candidates were influencing them so that they boost their chances of being elected. Herald
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 04:48:22 +0000
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