THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has said people living in the Diaspora would not be allowed to vote in the next elections because of logistical and financial reasons.
Report by Nqaba Matshazi
This is despite clamours by those living abroad who want to exercise their voting rights.
ZEC chief elections officer, Lovemore Sekeramai told an all-party workshop in Harare on Friday that it was difficult to administer a Diaspora vote.
“Zimbabweans are all over the world, how do we administer elections across the world? Looking at the economy and what is needed financially, it’s just not possible,” he said.
“We will have to airlift people and equipment from here and that is expensive.”
Sekeramai said in the event that ZEC were to administer an election abroad, the commission could not go to all the countries but would have to select some, which could then lead to new controversies. “If we go to Britain, Zimbabweans in Australia would ask why we did not go there, so as it is, their voting is a logistical problem,” he said.
The ZEC official gave an example of South Africa, which did not allow people in the Diaspora to vote and only allowed votes from Britain after a court order.
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Sekeramai explained that if South Africa, a far much larger economy than its northern neighbour, baulked at the expenses and logistics involved in allowing the Diasporians to vote, then it was also almost impossible for Zimbabwe to run such an election.
ZEC commissioner, Geoff Feltoe said legally, those living in the Diaspora could not vote, as they were not covered by the electoral law.
He said for now, all they could do was lobby for their inclusion. Feltoe, a University of Zimbabwe law lecturer, explained that Zimbabwe’s voting system was ward-based and a person should reside in a particular ward within 12 months of an election.
Most of the people in the Diaspora have been away for much longer than that.
MDC-T deputy organising secretary, Abednico Bhebhe told a Zimbabwe Election Support Network meeting recently that his party and Zanu PF had agreed to block people in the Diaspora from voting in the next election.
There have been calls by people living outside Zimbabwe that they be allowed to cast postal ballots but so far the clamours have fallen on deaf ears.