News / National
Cops, soldiers won't vote
18 Jul 2013 at 06:16hrs | Views
Thousands of members of the uniformed forces and other civil servants who failed to cast their ballots in the just-ended two-day special voting window are no longer able to exercise their voting rights come July 31 because the law does not give them that alternative.
Section 81B:2 of the Electoral Act says "a voter who has been authorised to cast a special vote shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner than by casting a special vote in terms of this Part."
The law flies in the face of assurances by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that people who failed to vote due to logistical challenges and the chaos that rocked the process would be given a second chance to vote alongside ordinary citizens on July 31.
On Monday, ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau announced that the security personnel who did not vote between July 14 and 15 would be allowed to vote when the rest of the electorate votes, a position legal experts dismissed as unlawful.
Section 81B:2 of the Electoral Act says "a voter who has been authorised to cast a special vote shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner than by casting a special vote in terms of this Part."
The law flies in the face of assurances by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that people who failed to vote due to logistical challenges and the chaos that rocked the process would be given a second chance to vote alongside ordinary citizens on July 31.
On Monday, ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau announced that the security personnel who did not vote between July 14 and 15 would be allowed to vote when the rest of the electorate votes, a position legal experts dismissed as unlawful.
Source - newsday
