Chronicle Editor
Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
MORE people are registering to vote in Matabeleland South in the second phase of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) mobile voter registration blitz, which kicked off last week.
The increasing numbers have been attributed to the ongoing national mobile registration exercise by the Civil Registry Department, which has enabled more people to acquire necessary documentation required to register.
In the first phase of the mobile voter registration exercise, which ran from February 1-28, about 3 600 people in the province registered as new voters.
Insufficient information on the voter registration exercise and identity documents as well as general voter apathy were cited among the reasons for the low turnout.
It has been previously reported that Matabeleland region has the least number of registered voters countrywide, a development that could eventually result in the loss of constituencies ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections if the trend does not change.
The Civil Registry Department is conducting a countrywide mobile registration exercise, which started on April 1 and ends on September 30.
The department is issuing birth certificates, death certificates and national identity documents to afford citizens an easy way of obtaining national identity documents at places close to them.
Matabeleland South provincial elections officer Mr Rabson Nyoni said more than 100 people registered to vote on the first day of the second phase of the mobile voter registration blitz in the province.
“We kicked off the second phase of the mobile voter registration exercise well after we deployed our voter educators on April 8.
“On April 9 and April 10, they were already on the ground preparing the way for our biometric voter registration (BVR) teams, which were then deployed on April 10,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said the blitz is aiding the process as more people continue to acquire identity documents and consequently register to vote.
“This time around, I believe the Civil Registry teams will be providing a good number of new voters, who will be getting their IDs.
“We have co-ordinated ourselves (Zec and Civil Registry teams) such that our district heads and team leaders on the ground are working together in such a way that when IDs are produced and given to their owners, we deploy BVR machines to the place of distribution which will be a registration centre for the Civil Registry team.
“We will make sure that everyone, who is 18 years old and above, is given an opportunity to also register as a voter. I believe that will give us more people than last time,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said the BVR teams will also be covering places they did not reach during the first phase of the exercise.
“We’re not only covering where the Registry Department is, but we’re also proceeding to other areas where we’re registering people. We’re doing this because our second phase ends on April 30 and we realise that if we are to just move with the Registry Department and not proceed to other areas, by April 30 we’ll be having areas which we wouldn’t have reached at all.
“We want to make sure that we visit every place. Our voter educators are also preaching the gospel of the exercise. They will also be telling people about the Civil Registry Department blitz. Those who already have IDs will be encouraged to come forward and register,” said Mr Nyoni.
According to statistics released by Zec recently, Bulawayo has the lowest number of registered voters with 254 630 followed by Matabeleland South with 259 689 and Matabeleland North standing at 335 851.
The region, which is least represented in Parliament, has 38 parliamentary seats out of 210 constituencies. Bulawayo has 12, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South each have 13.
The remainder of the seats are spread across the seven other provinces.
The mobile voter registration exercise is also expected to give members of the public an opportunity to inspect the voters’ roll. — @Yolisswa
Online Reporter