Zimbabwe prisoners denied referendum voting rights

ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (ZEC) yesterday said it did not have enough time to effectively prepare for Saturday's referendum and to make provision for prisoners to vote.

According to the law, prisoners with a jail term of less than six months are allowed to vote.

ZEC commissioner Geoff Feltoe told local and international observers in the capital the limited time given to prepare for the referendum and limited resources prohibited the commission from setting the provisions for the inmate vote.

"We have not catered for that at the referendum," Feltoe said.

"Yes, according to the Constitution, those inmates should be allowed to vote.

But for the referendum, this was not attended to because of the short time ZEC was given to organise the referendum. For elections, this would be attended to."

Feltoe also cited limited time as the reason why ZEC failed to organise postal ballots to allow Zimbabweans on national duty out of the country to vote in the referendum.

ZEC's admission seems to confirm claims by the National Constitutional Assembly boss Lovemore Madhuku that the time given for people to prepare for the referendum was inadequate.

On Monday, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights secretariat ruled that Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora should be allowed to vote in this weekend's referendum and forthcoming elections.