Tuesday, 12 June 2018

ASPIRING CANDIDATES FLOCK TO ZEC

WITH two days left before the Nomination Court sits, aspiring candidates are flocking to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) offices in Bulawayo to lodge their nomination papers, with the electoral body saying prospective candidates must avoid the last-minute rush.

When Chronicle visited Zec offices yesterday, scores of aspiring candidates were waiting to submit their papers to officials for filing.

The Nomination Court will sit on Thursday to receive names of aspiring candidates ahead of general elections slated for July 30. Bulawayo District elections officer Mrs Sithembiso Khupe yesterday said the process was going on well and urged aspiring candidates to avoid last-minute submissions.
She, however, could not release the number of people that have so far submitted their papers, saying they were waiting for the voters’ roll to be released.

“The process is going on well and we still urge aspiring candidates to come and lodge their papers so that they have time to make corrections if there is need to do so.

“We’ve received quite a number of submissions but we still have to check whether the nominators listed on the candidate’s papers are registered voters. According to the electoral requirements, each aspiring candidate should have at least five nominators supporting their submission and these should be registered voters,” said Mrs Khupe.

She said names of candidates who would have successfully lodged their papers will be announced when the Nomination Court opens on Thursday before nomination officers start receiving submissions from others.
Aspiring candidates started lodging their papers on Monday last week after Zec opened the process, with the commission encouraging them to submit their papers in time to avoid disappointments on the day

Last week, Zec held a stakeholders’ engagement meeting with political parties and aspiring candidates in Bulawayo to discuss the Nomination Court requirements.

Candidates aspiring to be presidents are required to pay $1 000 when they lodge their nomination papers while aspiring National Assembly members will part with $50.

Local authorities aspiring candidates do not pay anything while the six Senatorial candidates for each party pay a combined $100 per province.
The same applies to the National Assembly candidates under the proportional representation. Chronicle

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