News / National
Referendum votes to be pasted at polling centres
14 Mar 2013 at 04:45hrs | Views
COUNTING of votes for the constitutional referendum set for Saturday would be done at polling stations immediately after voting close and the results will be displayed outside each polling station, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) acting chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe said yesterday.
Zec started deploying polling officers to the different polling stations countrywide yesterday and also outlined the code of conduct for observers ahead of the referendum.
Briefing journalists, observers and stakeholders in Harare on Zec's preparedness to conduct the referendum, Mrs Kazembe said the set up at all the polling stations would be complete by tomorrow.
She said the number of polling stations had been increased from 9 449 to 9 456 after identifying new areas that needed to be covered.
"According to the commission's referendum schedule, deployment started today countrywide and polling stations are expected to have been set up by 15 March and ready to receive voters on Saturday, the referendum day," said Mrs Kazembe.
Electoral materials such as indelible ink, ballot papers and ballot boxes have already been dispatched to all provinces under tight security.
Bulawayo has been allocated 700 000 ballot papers by Zec ahead of the referendum which is two days away. The city's population is 655 675 people according to preliminary results of last year's census.
The electoral body printed 12 million ballot papers which Zec says should be enough for the country's 10 provinces.
Members of the public who are aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in the referendum.
Harare was allocated 1 749 000 ballot papers, Manicaland 1 447 000, Mashonaland Central 912 000 while Mashonaland East was allocated 1 153 000 ballot papers.
Mashonaland West will get 1 500 000 ballot papers, Masvingo 1 328 000, Matabeleland North 873 000 while Matabeleland South and Midlands will receive 714 000 and 1 624 000 respectively.
Mrs Kazembe said provincial, district and constituency command centres had been established, while the national command centre would be located at the Harare International Conference Centre.
She said counting of ballots would be done at each polling station and results posted outside soon after but the overall outcome would be announced within five days by the chief elections officer.
"After this, the polling station returns will be transmitted to the national command centre via the ward, constituency, district and provincial command centres," said Mrs Kazembe.
"Once the counting and transmission process has been completed, the chief elections officer will then declare the results of the referendum."
Mrs Kazembe said they were still waiting for Treasury to release funds to pay outstanding bills, which include polling officers' allowances.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti this week said Treasury released $31,5 million to Zec for the referendum, but Mrs Kazembe said the electoral body had received only $26 million.
She said Zec would not slash its budget further as it has many outstanding bills to settle.
"Our account received $26 million and probably the other money he (Biti) mentioned recently is still on its way but we cannot reduce the budget further," she said.
"We need money to cover the allowances for the 56 736 polling officers countrywide and we have set the allowances at the very minimum rate. You will be surprised to hear that they are getting $40 per day and this covers their boarding, food and other expenses."
In Bulawayo polling officers completed their training on Tuesday at Milton Junior, Eveline and Townsend High schools and reported for duty at the polling stations yesterday.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi on Tuesday said police would be deployed at all polling stations across the country to ensure a peaceful referendum.
In a telephone interview, Minister Mohadi said police will be out to ensure peace prevails before, during and after the voting process.
"The police will deploy adequate manpower to provide security during the referendum. In fact we are more than prepared to deal with any rogue elements during the referendum," he said.
Minister Mohadi urged people to be peaceful before, during and after the voting process.
"We know that Zimbabweans are a peace-loving people who do not like violence and as Government we will make sure that anybody who wants to incite violence is dealt with accordingly," he said.
Zec started deploying polling officers to the different polling stations countrywide yesterday and also outlined the code of conduct for observers ahead of the referendum.
Briefing journalists, observers and stakeholders in Harare on Zec's preparedness to conduct the referendum, Mrs Kazembe said the set up at all the polling stations would be complete by tomorrow.
She said the number of polling stations had been increased from 9 449 to 9 456 after identifying new areas that needed to be covered.
"According to the commission's referendum schedule, deployment started today countrywide and polling stations are expected to have been set up by 15 March and ready to receive voters on Saturday, the referendum day," said Mrs Kazembe.
Electoral materials such as indelible ink, ballot papers and ballot boxes have already been dispatched to all provinces under tight security.
Bulawayo has been allocated 700 000 ballot papers by Zec ahead of the referendum which is two days away. The city's population is 655 675 people according to preliminary results of last year's census.
The electoral body printed 12 million ballot papers which Zec says should be enough for the country's 10 provinces.
Members of the public who are aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in the referendum.
Harare was allocated 1 749 000 ballot papers, Manicaland 1 447 000, Mashonaland Central 912 000 while Mashonaland East was allocated 1 153 000 ballot papers.
Mashonaland West will get 1 500 000 ballot papers, Masvingo 1 328 000, Matabeleland North 873 000 while Matabeleland South and Midlands will receive 714 000 and 1 624 000 respectively.
Mrs Kazembe said provincial, district and constituency command centres had been established, while the national command centre would be located at the Harare International Conference Centre.
She said counting of ballots would be done at each polling station and results posted outside soon after but the overall outcome would be announced within five days by the chief elections officer.
"After this, the polling station returns will be transmitted to the national command centre via the ward, constituency, district and provincial command centres," said Mrs Kazembe.
"Once the counting and transmission process has been completed, the chief elections officer will then declare the results of the referendum."
Mrs Kazembe said they were still waiting for Treasury to release funds to pay outstanding bills, which include polling officers' allowances.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti this week said Treasury released $31,5 million to Zec for the referendum, but Mrs Kazembe said the electoral body had received only $26 million.
She said Zec would not slash its budget further as it has many outstanding bills to settle.
"Our account received $26 million and probably the other money he (Biti) mentioned recently is still on its way but we cannot reduce the budget further," she said.
"We need money to cover the allowances for the 56 736 polling officers countrywide and we have set the allowances at the very minimum rate. You will be surprised to hear that they are getting $40 per day and this covers their boarding, food and other expenses."
In Bulawayo polling officers completed their training on Tuesday at Milton Junior, Eveline and Townsend High schools and reported for duty at the polling stations yesterday.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi on Tuesday said police would be deployed at all polling stations across the country to ensure a peaceful referendum.
In a telephone interview, Minister Mohadi said police will be out to ensure peace prevails before, during and after the voting process.
"The police will deploy adequate manpower to provide security during the referendum. In fact we are more than prepared to deal with any rogue elements during the referendum," he said.
Minister Mohadi urged people to be peaceful before, during and after the voting process.
"We know that Zimbabweans are a peace-loving people who do not like violence and as Government we will make sure that anybody who wants to incite violence is dealt with accordingly," he said.
Source - chronicle
