Staff Reporter
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has dismissed claims by some analysts on social media that it is secretly changing electoral boundaries, stating that no boundary delimitation has started.
In a Press Statement today, ZEC says the claims and analysis of the national voters` roll being posted on social media by purported analysts is only meant to confuse the electorate and tarnish the image of the Commission.
“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would like to dismiss allegations of rigging purportedly exposed by an analysis of a national voter` roll requested by a political party as pure malice bent on diminishing the public`s confidence on the voters` roll and the country`s electoral processes. The so-called analysis being posted on social media platforms are clearly targeted at confusing the electorate and tarnishing the image of the Commission.
“ZEC is not secretly changing boundaries as alleged by the so called analysts and no boundary delimitation has started. Delimitation is a public exercise involving stakeholder consultations and it shall only commence after the conclusion of the national population census. The allegations are therefore unfounded and meant only to tarnish the image of the commission and to mislead stakeholders,” reads part of the Statement.
The Commission highlighted that any voters` roll that is requested in terms of Section 21(3) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13) is a valid document as at the date of issue and is subject to subsequent addition of any new registrants or removal of voters because of death or disqualification. According to ZEC, voter registration and the maintenance of the voters` roll is a continuous process in terms of Section 17A of the Electoral Act, thus the removal of deceased voters, duplicates and other malcontents is a continuous exercise necessary for the update of the voters` roll in an effort to keep it accurate, complete and current.
ZEC says the state of the voters` roll is always fluid save for cases where it is deemed closed for purposes of an election in terms of Sections 26A and 121A of the Electoral Act, as the case may be, and in this instance, for wards and constituencies being contested on the 26 March 2022 by-elections whose voters` rolls have already been closed and compiled.
Meanwhile, the Commission confirmed that it has come across a few cases of several different people using the same national identity cards and sometimes, the same physical addresses to register as voters, with investigations revealing that there are some people who engage in the illegal practice of giving their identity documents to relatives for use. The Commission says its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) unfortunately does not pick such anomalies.
ZEC advised the electorate that it will publish a notice of its intention to commence the delimitation exercise and the public will be informed of this development in due course.
