The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has pushed the blame on political parties for the rise in voter apathy alleging that political leaders are scaring away their voters as they remove confidence in the electoral processes.
ZEC Spokesperson, Commissioner Jasper Mangwana called on political parties to address any issues regarding voting processes through proper channels. He said political parties must shy away from the habit of alleging voter rigging without evidence, which tarnishes the commission.
Mangwana who was addressing an interparty dialogue aimed at enhancing political tolerance in the build-up to the 2023 elections, said it is incumbent upon political parties to instil confidence in their voters by encouraging them to exercise their rights.
“If we were to take the commission to say ZEC has rigged or something has not been done correctly, we need substance. There is the provision of the Electoral Act and the Electoral Court that will make this better so that when ZEC errs, they will hold us to account.
“The court will then hold us to account and we take it from there. However, if you to your constituencies encouraging them to vote then you tell them that even if they vote their votes will not count then how do you blame ZEC for voter apathy?” Mangwana said.
The call comes at a time when voter registration among the youth has been significantly low.
In a post, local authorities by-election report by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), voter turnout was significantly low across the eight wards that the group observed.
“None of the wards recorded a turnout above 50% with the highest turnout being Ward 4 of Kariba Municipality which recorded 46.8 % turnout and the lowest being Ward 16 of Mutare Municipality which recorded a turnout of 11%,” ZESN said in the report.
It stated that there is a need for greater political literacy amongst citizens for them to make use of the political and electoral rights afforded them by the Constitution.
“This would translate into improved turnout for local authority by-elections which in comparison with national assembly by-elections are regarded as less important,” the report reads.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Mangwana said the commission will advise in due course if there will be any new mobile blitz, but for now, it is focusing on the delimitation of boundaries for the 2023 elections.
“Voter registration will continue as the law states for voter registration to be conducted on a continuous basis so as to keep the voter’s roll up to date.
“The second mobile voter blitz is what ended, but voter registration continues in the 63 district offices and 10 provincial offices. These offices will be open during working hours and will serve people who want to transfer or edit any change to voters’ registration details.”
Citizens Coalition for Change Spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere was quoted in the Newsday saying while there has been a slight increase in voter registration numbers, there is still a long way to go if the constitutional imperative of universal adult suffrage is to be achieved.
“More work needs to be done to ensure that voter registration information is easily accessible by the common man,” Mahere said.
