Today's gazetting of the election proclamation fixing 23 August 2023 as the date for the harmonised general election [presidential, parliamentary and local authority] means this might turn out to be a general election like no other before.
The election proclamation has come not only when
journalists at the country's major sections of the mainstream media - on whom
the public depends for information on elections - have declared themselves to
be incapacitated, but it has also come when @ZECzim- the constitutional body
responsible for conducting elections - is itself clearly incapacitated.
It is common cause that the disputed delimitation exercise
sharply divided and incapacitated ZEC as seven Commissioners - not a small
number - went rogue and disassociated themselves from the delimitation exercise
and report, with some even challenging it in court.
Since then, there's no evidence that the ZEC divisions have
disappeared or that they have been satisfactorily if at all addressed.
Also, there is no evidence that the Commission is
functioning properly or effectively, let alone efficiently, as a corporate
entity which is a chapter 12 constitutional institution. ZEC's functions and
communications have become palpably dysfunctional, and are clearly not operating
the way they should or they used to.
Meanwhile, ZEC's Chief Elections Officer, Mr Utoile
Silaigwana, has hardly been at work, reportedly incapacitated by health issues
which have seen him on repeated sick leave over quite some time.
The conspicuous trappings of incapacitation at ZEC do not
bode well for the proper administration of the electoral process in terms of
the law.
On 27 May 2023, the day when the ongoing and rather
controversial voter registration inspection started, ZEC issued the following
pregnant statement that should concern anyone who would like to see a free,
fair and credible harmonised general election on 23 August:
"Owing to logistical and other unforeseen challenges,
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would like to inform members of the public
that some voters' roll inspection centres may start operating much later than
the anticipated time on 27 May 2023.
The Commission may consider extending this exercise
scheduled to end on 31 May 2023 by a day in affected areas".
In the end, most areas were affected to warrant an
extension in all areas to tomorrow, 1 June 2023.
While ZEC did not indicate what "logistical and
unforeseen challenges" it was having - and while the incapacitated media
did not probe this to unravel it, what is self-evident is that ZEC is
incapacitated but - unlike the journalists at the two major media houses - has
not declared its incapacitation.
Against this backdrop, and judging by the way it has by its
own admission struggled with "logistical and unforeseen challenges"
to enable a smooth inspection of the provisional voters roll, @ZECzim
does not appear to
be ready to smoothly conduct the forthcoming general election.
In fact, ZEC is not ready.
Yet the first thing that must be in order before any
general election is the institutional, organisational and technical readiness
of the electoral body. The capacity of the electoral body must not be in
question.
And the first thing that the electoral body must have ready
ahead of a general election is the voters roll. In the study of electoral
politics and practice, an election is a voter roll.
ZEC extended to tomorrow 1 June 2023, the ongoing rather
short and problematic inspection of the provisional voters roll which started
on 27 May 2023 and which was meant to end today, for inspecting by voters who
were registered by 28 April 2023, and who were given a very short inspection
notice on 23 May 2023.
The fact that, following today's election proclamation, the
cut-off date for voter registration for the forthcoming election is 2 June 2023
- only a day after the end of the ongoing voter inspection of the provisional
voters roll, means that ZEC's preparation and compilation of the final voters
roll will be based on a poorly audited provisional voters roll.
This is bad news.
It is safe to say ZEC's compilation of the final voters
roll for the 23 August 2023 harmonised general election will be based on a
provisional voters roll that has not been properly audited or even one which
does not exist. This would not be right nor fair in terms of natural justice,
nor would it be constitutional in terms of section 239(a) of the Constitution
which requires ZEC to "ensure that ...elections...are conducted
efficiently, freely, fairly, transparently and in accordance with law".
There can be no free, fair, transparent election conducted
in accordance with law without a credible voters roll that has been audited
[meaning sufficiently inspected] by voters in terms of section 21 of the
Electoral Act.
When voters audit the voters roll by inspection,
invariably, anomalies are identified and those anomalies must be corrected
transparently, meaning voters should be able to confirm - before the general
election - that ZEC has corrected the anomalies they identified.
Given that today's election proclamation has been gazetted
before the conclusion of a manifestly problematic - some will say chaotic -
ongoing inspection of the provisional voters roll; and given that the cut-off
date for voters to register to be able to vote on 23 August 2023 is 2 June
2023; and further given that the Nomination Courts for the three elections will
sit on 21 June 2023, ZEC should do right by voters and provide at least a
five-day proper inspection of the final voters roll after 2 June 2023 and well
before 21 June 2023.
If ZEC does not come up with a window of at least five days
for voters to inspect the final voters roll after 2 June 2023, it can forget
about having rational and fair-minded people judging the 2023 harmonised
general election as free, fair and credible; such an election will not be
credible abi nitio.
The credibility of an election starts with a credible
voters roll, and a voters roll cannot be credible if it has not been freely,
fairly and transparently audited by voters themselves over a reasonable time
before an election.
This is why students of electoral politics and practice say
an election is a voters roll. It is pointless to conduct an election without a
credible voters roll.
Consequently, ZEC will do well to recover from its worrying
incapacitation and ensure that it does not miss or squander the small window of
opportunity it still has to compile a credible final voters roll and enable
voters who are registered by 2 June 2023 to inspect that voters roll in terms
of the law, to win the goodwill and confidence of the electorate, ahead of 23
August.
A credible voters roll properly audited by voters
themselves is the holy grail of a free and fair election in a constitutional
democracy!
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