Speaking to Sunday News in Bulawayo at the close of polling stations, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chief Elections Officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana commended voters for voting peacefully saying all polling stations opened on time.
He, however, said there was a need for civic education to ensure the public understands the importance of registering to vote and also exercising their constitutional right to vote.
“The polling processes for today the 3rd of February 2024
took place in all the provinces where there were by-elections. We had six
constituencies and several wards throughout the country, mainly in Bulawayo,
Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Midlands. There has been a low turnout,
yes, by-elections by their nature attract a low turnout but this time our
assessment shows that turnout was actually lower than what we expected but,
there could be several factors. We are still going to make a proper assessment,”
said Mr Silaigwana.
Cde Joseph Tshuma after casting his vote
He said ZEC managed to do all its groundwork to ensure the
process was conducted in a proper way across the country.
“As ZEC we did all that we were supposed to do in terms of
preparations, I can confirm that all the polling stations opened at 7am. By
then there were very few people trickling in, there was a bit of an increase
around 10am, mid-morning as I have already indicated, the percentages remained
low. In some of the polling stations that I visited, the turnout was between 10
and 15 percent,” he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment