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Herald Reporter
Over 36 000 people were registered as of April 18 in the second round of the voter registration exercise which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) yesterday said was going ahead well.
Apart from the new registrants, over 17 000 people transferred constituencies during the same period.
The second registration blitz began on April 9 and is expected to end on April 28.
It is running concurrently with a similar blitz by the Civil Registry’s Department that is aimed at enabling people obtain national identity documents.
In an interview yesterday, ZEC spokesperson Commissioner Jasper Mangwana said they were satisfied with the turnout.
“We are happy with the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration blitz. At the end of the first week, April 18, we had 36 000 new registrants and 17 000 transfers.
“We would like to appreciate the role being played by the Civil Registry’s Department in providing identity documents that are necessary for voter registration,” he said.
However, Comm Mangwana implored stakeholders from incentivising people to register to vote saying this would encourage double or multiple registration.
A number of NGOs are dangling various incentives that include cash to entice people to register to vote.
Comm Mangwana thanked organisations that are assisting ZEC in encouraging citizens to register to vote and reiterated the call to those that have not registered to do so in the ongoing exercise.
The blitz on voter registration follows the first phase held in February just before the March 26 by-elections.
During the first phase, ZEC registered at least 80 000 people.
Apart from the ongoing blitz, voter registration is done continuously at the various ZEC offices in the districts and provinces across the country.
Online Reporter