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Peter Chawapiwa
01 March 2017, CHIVI – MDC-T supporters in Chivi have called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to prioritise voter education in light of the new biometric voting system which will be used in the 2018 harmonised elections.
They said it was imperative that voters receive an education on the voting process as it was something that people were unfamiliar with.
“We hear that a new system is being put in place. We do not know how this system works and we believe that we talk on behalf of the generality of Zimbabweans.
“It is a new system and the people need some kind of awareness campaign. We need to know how the system works. It is not enough to register as a voter when you do not know how the system that will be used operates,” said Tamuka Ndava.
Other activists said voters also needed to be educated on the new polling station-based voters’ roll.
“We do not know what the polling station-based voters’ roll means. In previous elections, we have gone to the polling station on polling day and there has always been a voters’ roll.
“If anything is going to be different then ZEC should ensure that the people are educated on the system well ahead of the election so that the people can educate each other,” said another party supporter.
ZEC chairperson, Justice Rita Makarau, recently announced that the voter registration exercise will begin in May and that they will do away with the previous voters’ roll which was prepared by the office of the Registrar General.politics,local
