George Chimwayange
The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) has
been open for voter
registration since the end of the
2018 harmonised elections except
during the hard lockdown period,
the local office of the electoral
management body has said.
The Deputy Provincial Election
Officer (PEO) Maxwell Ncube said
not as many people as would be
wanted were coming to register
to vote due to attitudes that make
them want to register at the 11th
hour.
“Only six people were recorded
since the beginning of May;
three women and three men. Our
statistics show that people are not
registering and some of them end
up transferring to other areas. The
major problem is that people want
to do things at the last minute,”
said Ncube.
He said Zec will soon be going
on outreach programmes to
encourage people, especially
youth and women, to vote.
TellZim spoke to one youth Stefan
Nhongo who said he was not even
aware that people were already
registering for 2023 elections .
“There is not enough awareness
in the province on the registration
and we do not even know where to
find the offices,” said Nhongo.
Vanessa Mashuro, a Mucheke
resident, said most people were
not aware that the local Zec offices
were open and were registering
people for the fast-approaching
2023 harmonised elections.
“People do not know where
the offices are located and we
usually register when they have
announced that there are elections
happening, and when registration
centres are opened everywhere,”
said Mashuro.
The youth suggested that there
should be much more awareness
programmes so that apathetic
people especially the youth can
develop more interest in electoral
activities.
