ZEC to embark on 10-day voters roll inspection

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will embark on a 10-day voters' roll inspection ahead of the delimitation exercise which shall be conducted in terms of Sections 160 and 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The exercise will run from July 17-26 with the Commission setting up 11 107 inspection centres in the 210 constituencies.

Section 160 of the constitution empowers ZEC, for the purpose of electing Members of Parliament, to divide Zimbabwe into 210 constituencies while councils are divided into wards for election of councillors.

Once every 10 years, on a date or within a period fixed by the Commission, ZEC must conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which Zimbabwe is to be divided. If a delimitation of electoral boundaries is completed less than six months before polling day in a general election, the boundaries so delimited do not apply to that election, and instead the boundaries that existed immediately before the delimitation are applicable.

Delimitation refers to the dividing of the country into constituencies and wards for the purposes of elections and involves coming up with a minimum threshold of registered voters for each of the country's 210 National Assembly constituencies. The exercise could see constituencies with a low number of registered voters being merged with others while those with high numbers could be split, subject to the number of registered voters.

Matabeleland region is the least represented in Parliament with 38 seats with Bulawayo contributing 12 while Matabelelad North and South provinces have 13 seats each.

In a notice, ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said the voters' roll will be polling station specific and urged members of the public to take a keen interest in the process by coming out in large numbers to inspect the voters' roll.

"It is hereby notified for general information that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission shall lay open the delimitation voters` roll for inspection by the public in accordance with Section 21 of the Electoral Act [Chapter: 13] as read with section 10(2) of the Electoral (Voter Registration) Regulations Statutory Instrument 85 of 2017. The purpose of the inspection of the voters` roll is to allow members of the public to check if their names are appearing on the voters` roll and to check if their details are correctly captured and if not, to correct such anomalies. The voters` roll will be polling station specific and available for inspection at the election centres during the period 17 to 26 July 2022 from 07:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs," said Justice Chigumba.

She said the electorate must visit the polling station where they are registered to vote or alternatively they can check for their details online.

"The electorate is advised to visit polling stations where they are registered to vote to inspect the voters` roll. Alternatively, voters can check their details on the USSD platform by dialling *265# or the online platform, bvrinspection.zec.org.zw. Once all the corrections have been taken on board, the Commission will then produce the final voters` roll that will be used for the purpose of conducting the delimitation exercise. The Commission urges all members of the public to take a keen interest in this important process by coming out in large numbers to inspect the voters` roll," said Justice Chigumba.