Zec launches mobile platform for voters' roll inspection

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has introduced a short messaging services (SMS) mobile platform for voters' roll inspection across all mobile networks.

A registered voter is required to dial *265# to access details which include the name, polling station, ward and constituency.

Zec commissioner Ms Sibongile Ndlovu yesterday said voters whose details were wrongly captured should visit any of their registration centres before May 30.

"We launched this mobile platform yesterday (Saturday) and it will run until May 29. We urge registered voters to take advantage of this period to visit our inspection centres to check their details," she said.

Zec recently announced it had registered about 5,43 million voters as of April 2018.

The provisional voters' roll is open for inspection from May 19 to 29 in line with the Electoral Act to allow the public to check if their details were correctly captured.

The provisional voters' roll inspection has been described by Zec as a milestone in the election roadmap.

On Friday, Zec Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo said the voters' roll inspection marks the beginning of an end ahead of the national polls.

Dr Moyo said the voters' roll inspection was critical towards holding free and fair elections.

"Voter inspection is a milestone in the whole electoral cycle because it signals the beginning of an end in the process of conclusion to the voters' roll.

"The voters' roll is one of the most important documents for the purposes of an election," he said.

"We know that over years it has been a source of conflict hence our migration to Biometric Voter Registration for the first time in the history of Zimbabwe."

Dr Moyo said completion of the process of producing a voters' roll will give the country a clearer map on when the elections will be held.

He said President Mnangagwa will proclaim the election date after gazetting the voters' roll.

"The finalisation and gazetting of the voters roll will happen immediately after we have concluded the inspection. That will pave way for the President to then make a proclamation of the election date and sitting of the nomination court," said Dr Moyo.

He said it is important for members of the public to inspect the provisional voters' roll so that any mistakes can be dealt with.

"Citizens are urged not to sit back and relax and say that because I did register my name is in the voters' roll. It is important for everyone to go out and physically check at the polling station that they said they want to vote from," Dr Moyo said.

"This is so they can see whether their name is properly entered into the voters' roll, their national ID is properly captured and the name is properly spelt and indeed they are in the polling station they desire to vote from. This will assist us to ensure that should there be any mistakes or omissions, they can then be corrected before the finalisation of the voters' roll."

He urged members of the public who have not registered to use this period to register to vote as the registration process is still open.

Dr Moyo challenged civic society organisations, churches and political parties to actively participate in encouraging the electorate to inspect the voters' roll.

"While the yoke is in our shoulders as a commission in terms of the constitutional powers, responsibility to make this happen properly is for all Zimbabweans to work as a collective to make sure that we pull in the same direction and understand that elections are a national exercise that requires our involvement," he said.