Historically, voter registration in Zimbabwe has generally met the requirements within the legal framework, yet the process has had many deficiencies, resulting in the absence of some fundamental principles of voter registration, including transparency, inclusiveness and accuracy, ultimately compromising the voters’ roll.
ZESN
Section 239 subsections (c), (d) and (e) of the Constitution give ZEC the mandate to register voters, compile the voters’ rolls and registers, as well as to ensure the proper custody and maintenance of the voters’ rolls and registers. Section 42 (1) of the Electoral Amendment Act (2012) was used as the basis to carry out polling station specific voter registration for the recently-held Marondera Central by-election.
Given the challenges that have marred previous voter registration exercises and the voters’ rolls in Zimbabwe, ZEC should adopt a more sustainable solution to address challenges with the voter registration exercise based on experiences and observations from the 2013 harmonised elections and the recently piloted voter registration in Marondera Central.
According to a research carried out by ZESN, the integration of Biometric Voter Registration systems (BVR) will greatly enhance the integrity and credibility of the voter registration process in Zimbabwe. While adopting a BVR system does not replace the need for establishing an effective and transparent voter registration method, the technology does add a much-needed element to achieving this goal.
A biometric voter registration system is where one or more physical, biological behavioural characteristics are stored, usually in a database, and used for identification and verification. It is a highly-advanced biometric information system that allows for the identification of millions of voters quickly and unmistakably using biometric identifiers.
The adoption of BVR will require changes to the existing legal framework on voter registration. The amendments to the Electoral Act will facilitate for a BVR solution to support, among other things, the manner in which voter registration certificates are issued (Section 26); the removal of duplications (Section 32); the manner in which alterations are made and certified (Section 36); and, the prescribed form used for the registration of new voters (36A).
As the country gears for the 2018 harmonised elections, various stakeholders including ZESN have recommended that the Commission should consider staggering the implementation of BVR by rolling it out in each province and during by-elections to allow for an opportunity to test the methodology and make necessary adjustments in preparations for the 2018 harmonised elections.
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In the deployment of the BVR system, the use of digital photographs is the most commonly used method in jurisdictions that have adopted BVR. It is, however, cheaper to capture fingerprints and, based on available resources, ZEC can adopt either of the two methods.
The challenges presented during the Marondera pilot further confirm the need to adopt a more sustainable and effective approach to the voter registration process. ]
Although technology wouldn’t have resolved some of the challenges associated with conducting house-to-house registration, introducing biometrics could have prevented the high risk of manual entry errors and offered an effective tool for identifying and deleting duplicates from the voters’ roll.
There is need for proper planning and budgeting of BVR technology and staffing.There is need for a robust and effective public information campaign regarding the new voter registration process to raise awareness and secure stakeholder buy-in, as well as widespread consultation with CSOs and other stakeholders on the feasibility of implementation of BVR prior to the 2018 elections.
You can contact ZESN on [email protected], [email protected] 04-781443/250735 Facebook: Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), Twitter: @ZESN1
