Soldiers to vote 16 days earlier

Members of the uniformed forces who will be on duty during elections will now vote 16 days before polls at properly designated polling stations to minimize undermining the credibility of the polling system.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for political parties in Harare on Friday, Commissioner George Feltoe said the reforms incorporated into the new Electoral Amendment Act included refinements to the postal voting system.

Soldiers and police officers who used to cast their ballots at police stations and at the barracks 30 days before the election, would now do so 2 weeks earlier, Feltoe said.

This will also apply to ZEC officials.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said people living in the Diaspora would not be allowed to vote in the next elections because of logistical and financial reasons.

ZEC chief elections officer, Lovemore Sekeramai told an all-party workshop in Harare on Friday that it was difficult to administer a Diaspora vote.

Sekeramai said in the event that ZEC were to administer an election abroad, the commission could not go to all the countries but would have to select some, which could then lead to new controversies.