Newsday reports that critics view the registration blitz as an attempt to consolidate the party’s dominance in these regions ahead of future elections.
Witnesses in several communities have reported seeing Zec
officials conducting voter registration, but without making the usual public
announcements that typically accompany such exercises.
Sources told NewsDay that Zec targeted rural communities
where access to information is often limited, to bolster voter numbers ahead of
upcoming elections.
“Zec visited our community to register voters but without
any public announcement. We only heard through word of mouth that Zec was in
the area. There were no posters or notifications, just officials arriving and
setting up for the day,” a villager from Gokwe said.
Another official from Gumunyu High School in Gokwe North,
who requested anonymity, said the registration blitz was announced on Tuesday
last week and was targeting learners.
“It is an exercise that is happening in all the schools in
rural areas. So we were tasked to tell the learners about the process. They are
targeting first-time voters born on or before September 2006,” the official
said.
Zec deputy chairperson Rodney Simukai Kiwa confirmed the
exercise, allaying fears the exercise was being done clandestinely.
“There is nothing nicodemous about it, we are not hiding
anything. We have continuous voter registration, it’s not periodic. Those
electoral watchdogs should come to us and we educate them on issues around the
electoral processes,” he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment