Only 6 people register to vote in May, says ZEC

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has been open for voter registration since the end of the 2018 harmonised elections except during the hard lockdown period, the local office of the electoral management body has said.

The Deputy Provincial Election Officer (PEO) Maxwell Ncube said not as many people as would be wanted were coming to register to vote due to attitudes that make them want to register at the 11th hour.

"Only six people were recorded since the beginning of May; three women and three men. Our statistics show that people are not registering and some of them end up transferring to other areas. The major problem is that people want to do things at the last minute," said Ncube.

He said Zec will soon be going on outreach programmes to encourage people, especially youth and women, to vote.

TellZim spoke to one youth Stefan Nhongo who said he was not even aware that people were already registering for 2023 elections .

"There is not enough awareness in the province on the registration and we do not even know where to find the offices," said Nhongo.

Vanessa Mashuro, a Mucheke resident, said most people were not aware that the local Zec offices were open and were registering people for the fast-approaching 2023 harmonised elections.

"People do not know where the offices are located and we usually register when they have announced that there are elections happening, and when registration centres are opened everywhere," said Mashuro.

The youth suggested that there should be much more awareness programmes so that apathetic people especially the youth can develop more interest in electoral activities.