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Herald Reporter
KUWADZANA National Assembly representative Mr Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T) yesterday said voting must be compulsory for any citizen above the age of 18.
Some countries, such as Brazil, make it illegal not to vote on attaining the majority age.
Mr Chamisa said this in the National Assembly while contributing to a report tabled by Buhera MP Cde Oliver Mandipaka (Zanu-PF) on Madagascar’s elections, which he and MDC-T legislator Ms Thokozani Khupe observed in December last year.
“Voting should be made compulsory but the choice of a candidate one votes for is what should remain optional. Let us also have a system where if one attains the majority age of 18 years he or she is registered as a voter when one obtains a national registration card,” said Mr Chamisa in a tension-filled debate.
He said this could be enforced through new technologies that showed if an eligible voter had cast his/her ballot.
Legislators agreed, after receiving Cde Mandipaka’s report, that Zimbabwe’s electoral system was advanced.
Cde Mandipaka said election material, particularly in Madagascar’s rural areas, were kept by village heads.
He, however, lauded political tolerance levels in Madagascar, saying Zimbabwe should emulate that.
Mberengwa East MP Cde Makhosini Hlongwane (Zanu-PF) said from the report, it was self-evident that Zimbabwe’s electoral system was on the right track.
“Voter registration is a daily occurrence here unlike in Madagascar despite the fact that they hold door-to-door voter registration. Zimbabwe displays election results something that we did not hear being mentioned in respect of Madagascar,” he said.
Buhera Central MP Cde Ronald Muderedzwa (Zanu-PF) concurred.
There was a heated debate when Ms Khupe criticised Zimbabwe’s elections, claiming that Madagascar was better off; an assertion challenged by Zanu-PF legislators who said she was straying outside debate on Madagascar.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Cde Marble Chinomona, who was in the chair, ruled Ms Khupe was out of order.
Online Reporter