The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has eliminated over 25,000 dead individuals from the voter registry as the electoral authority works to clean up the list to guarantee an accurate count of eligible voters.
The deletion of dead individuals from the electoral list was declared by ZEC's interim Head of Elections, Mr Simbarashe Tongayi, in an official government notice released last Friday.
The ZEC consistently updates voter rolls by removing deceased individuals whose deaths have been reported by the Registrar-General.
As per sections 33(4) and 27(1) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13), it is officially announced that voter registration officers suspect these individuals, whose names appear in the First Schedule, had passed away after being registered as voters for specific constituencies, wards, and polling stations detailed within said schedule.
"The names of those persons will be removed from the voters roll unless notice of appeal is given to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission," reads the notice.
Through this announcement, voters listed in the First Schedule are hereby informed that they have the right to object with regard to their names being included in said schedule. This must be done at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission office located at Mahachi Quantum, No. 1 Nelson Mandela Avenue, where it meets Kaguvi Street and Jason Moyo Avenue in Harare, as well as at the relevant provincial offices of the commission. The objection should follow the format provided in the Second Schedule and must be submitted within seven days following the release of this notice.
From the reading of the list ZEC has published, the bulk of those that are set to be removed died in 2024.
The list contains names of the deceased persons, their national identification number, gender, date of birth, address and the date when they died.
Additional information encompasses the deceased's constituency, voting locations, home district, and provincial background.
During an interview yesterday, ZEC Deputy Chairperson, Ambassador Rodney Kiwa mentioned that eliminating deceased individuals from voter lists is a standard procedure. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining an updated electoral register.
It’s crucial to maintain voter rolls as current and accurate as feasible, especially leading up to by-elections like those in Glen View South or Gutu East constituencies. Publishing these names is not only vital but also legally mandated, allowing individuals to raise objections if someone has been incorrectly listed as deceased.
Amb Kiwa stated, "They will need to step up for it to be fixed."
He said updating the voters roll also enabled to provide a proper and realistic threshold of total voters on a given polling station or constituency.
This, said Amb Kiwa, helps to ensure that candidates were not prejudiced by having fictitious figures.
"We have to keep the voters roll updated, otherwise we might end with a threshold per given polling station that does not exist.
For instance, we could establish a limit of 1,000 voters at each polling station. If we fail to refresh the voter registry, we might find that 40 percent of the names listed belong to deceased individuals at a particular voting location.
Amb Kiwa stated that failing to update the voter rolls could lead to bias against candidates.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).
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