adminLeroy Dzenga Herald Reporter
The previously apathetic constituents of Harare’s Arcadia suburb came out to vote in their numbers, shaking off the passive tag in yesterday’s harmonised election. Arcadia, whose majority is of a mixed race, has shied away from voting in previous polls, but the first post-Mugabe election drew them out.
Long queues were a common feature in the constituency.
Voters who spoke to The Herald were surprised with the surge in numbers.
“We have been standing in this queue for hours. This has never been the case in Arcadia, we are not used to spending time at the polling station,” Natie Rooyen said.
Another resident, Mr Zane Abrahams said developments in the past few months made him vote.
“I had stopped voting because it appeared the Government had forgotten about us, but in the past few months we saw senior officials engaging with us and that has been encouraging,” said Mr Abrahams.
By midday 1 146 had cast their ballot s at Nettleton Primary School, while hundreds stood in the queue awaiting their turn.
A Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) presiding officer Phillip Maresa who spoke to The Herald around midday confirmed the growth in numbers.
“The turnout has been overwhelming. This is not my first time presiding over elections here and the numbers have grown. In 2013, I registered less than 50 voters the whole day but this year the numbers have remarkably grown we are past half of our registered numbers,” Maresa said.
People of different ages, including senior citizens left the comfort of their homes to play a part in deciding Zimbabwe’s future trajectory.
ZEC officials were seen assisting voters of an old age as well as those living with disabilities to vote.
Across town in Belvedere, the community largely of Indian descend thronged the polling station at Louis Mountbatten Primary School in the morning.
By midday, the polling agents were serving isolated walk-in voters.
“We saw a lot of pressure from early hours until 12 noon, after that the pressure receded and only a few people have been coming to cast their ballot,” said a ZEC presiding officer at Louis Mountbatten primary school in Belvedere.
At 1pm, 769 votes had been cast and very few were seen to be walking in to cast their votes. Polling agents could be seen sitting.
Online Reporter