admin
Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
MDC-T has withdrawn an application it made at the Constitutional Court seeking to nullify the special voting conducted on July 14 and 15 on the basis that it was flawed. The party, however, filed another application this time at the Electoral Court of Zimbabwe seeking to compel the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to provide them with an electronic copy of the voters roll.
MDC-T had filed the first application immediately after the same court granted the Zimbabwe Election Commission’s application to allow security officers and ZEC officials who failed to vote by special ballot to join the rest of the citizens tomorrow in exercising their voting right.
The party’s lawyer Mr Selby Hwacha withdrew the application after Mr Tawanda Kanengoni and Mr Charles Nyika of Nyika, Kanengoni and Partners, who are representing ZEC in the application, had argued that the matter had a criminal basis hence it could be handled by the criminal courts.
ZEC, its chairperson Justice Rita Makarau, and six other officials were listed as respondents in the application.
The party’s leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai had argued that special voting was flawed and that it should be declared null and void and that all the police officers, prison officers, soldiers and ZEC officials should start afresh together with the whole nation tomorrow.
In the new application, ZEC is the first respondent while the registrar of voters is cited as the second respondent. Lawyers Dube, Manikai and Hwacha, who are representing the MDC-T, argued that in terms of the electoral law its candidates are entitled to copies of all the ward and constituency voters roll before the polling day.
“The applicants candidates are entitled to copies of the voter rolls that will be used during the election and the Respondents failure or refusal to furnish the said rolls is wrongful at law and constitutionally untenable.
“There is a need that a determination on the matter be made before the election so as to ensure that applicant’s rights are protected during the campaign period,” submitted MDC-T lawyers.
In his founding affidavit MDC-T secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti Monday said his party’s functionaries shuffled between ZEC and the registrar’s office offices demanding the electronic copies of the constituency voters’ rolls for use by MDC-T candidates.
“ At 5:40 pm the Applicant was advised by a functionary at the 2nd Respondents office (Registrar) that they would not provide electronic copies of the constituency voters’ rolls but instead would sell the Applicant a consolidated voters’ roll for US$30 000.
“I was shocked at the 2nd Respondent’s stance moreso after this position was confirmed by the 1st Respondents Chairperson at a press briefing held at the Harare International Conference Centre which commenced at 5pm on the 29th of July 2013,” said Mr Biti.
Mr Biti said access to the voters roll is critical and indispensable to the verifiable conduct of credible elections adding that without access to the voters roll there was no way a credible election could be conducted.
In the interim the MDC-T was seeking an order compelling ZEC to avail within one hour of the order electronic copies of all the constituency voters’ rolls to be used in the July 31, 2013 harmonised election.
It was seeking a final order declaring ZEC alleged refusal to avail free electronic copies of the constituency voters rolls as void and in violation of 21 (6) (a) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13].
The party wants ZEC and the registrar to pay costs of the suit.
Online Reporter