Elections watchdog, Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), has called on the government to abandon planned amendments to the Constitution and Electoral Act that would implement automatic voter registration for those reaching 18 years of age ahead of the 2028 elections.
The proposed amendments seek to enhance voter registration by transferring the responsibility from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to the Civil Registry Department (CRD), enabling automatic registration at 18 and automatic removal of deceased voters upon death certification.
Recently, another elections watchdog, the Elections Resource Centre (ERC), also urged the government to stop the proposed amendments, raising concerns about personal data privacy and ZEC’s independence.
ZESN regards the proposed transfer of responsibilities from the electoral body to the Civil Registry Department (CRD) as a step backward.
“Instead of taking a retrogressive approach, the focus should be geared towards improving issues and systems that have been heavily contested in courts, such as availing the voters’ roll on time, especially to political parties.
“With the proposal for Constitutional amendments intending to transfer voter registration tasks from the ZEC to the CRD, this move should be approached cautiously, bearing in mind that the Constitution has already been amended twice in the short span of ten years, with Amendment No. 2 alone introducing 23 changes.
“ZEC should continue to make the voter registration exercise comprehensive and inclusive and administer it independently to build trust and confidence in the electoral process,” ZESN said.
ZESN also raised concerns that the Constitution has already been amended before and amending it again may not be a good idea.
“To avoid piecemeal electoral-related constitutional amendments, a holistic electoral reform approach that takes into cognizance the Constitution of Zimbabwe, SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections should be considered through the enactment of a comprehensive Electoral Amendment.
“There should be restraint in continually or heavily altering the Constitution, as this will affect the stability and continuity of ZEC in executing its roles.
“Rather than seeking to amend the Constitution, strengthening ZEC should be considered as the priority.
“For operational efficiency, the ZEC, which is responsible for running elections, should conduct voter registration and compilation of the voters’ roll.
“However, it should closely collaborate with the CRD in order to automatically register new voters, remove deceased individuals, and maintain an accurate register.”
