ELECTORAL activities will soon commence under strict
Covid-19 guidelines crafted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to allow
for safe resumption of elections, The Sunday Mail has gathered.
The new Covid-19 Policy on Electoral Activities will
include mandatory temperature checks for voters, sanitisation of participants,
equipment and election material, and social distancing. ZEC has adopted a final
draft of the guidelines following a consultative process with stakeholders.
The elections management body suspended all electoral
activities indefinitely following the imposition of the national lockdown in
March.
The lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of
Covid-19, including social distancing rules and restrictions on public
gatherings, made free, fair and transparent elections impossible, according to
ZEC.
The guidelines will be unveiled soon. “The commission is indeed engaged in the
process of developing a Covid-19 Policy on Electoral Activities mainly to guide
its operations during this lockdown period,” said ZEC chief elections officer
Mr Utloile Silaigwana.
“This stems from the realisation that the pandemic may be
with the world for some time to come against the backdrop of the constitutional
mandate of the commission to conduct elections. There is, therefore, need to
maintain that balance through the development of appropriate policy guidelines
that conform to current Covid-19 lockdown measures.”
Mr Silaigwana said the guidelines also cover voter
registration, voter education and election day operational procedures.
“In summary, this policy outlines guidelines that all
electoral stakeholders (the electorate, political players, media, observers, electoral
officers) should observe in order to enhance public safety during the conduct
of elections,” he said.
“There should, for instance, be normal temperature checks —
sanitisation of participants, equipment and election material — social
distancing and such other measures aimed at reducing the spread of the Covid-19
virus.
“The electoral processes covered in this policy include
voter registration, voter education, nomination court, conduct of poll and
other administrative activities.”
Mr Silaigwana said the policy will not substitute the
electoral law but is a facilitative framework on how the commission should
conduct its processes under a pandemic environment within the confines of the
current legal framework. In a statement announcing the suspension, ZEC said:
“All by-elections and other electoral activities have been suspended till
further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic. The commission is taking
precautionary measures to protect its employees and the general public from the
pandemic.”
Several by-elections have been postponed owing to the
suspension of electoral activities. Sunday Mail
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