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Qualifications as a voter (s155 and the Fourth Schedule)

Section 55 of the Constitution provides for principles that must be followed in the electoral process. In terms of subsection(2) of that section, the State is required to take all appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to ensure that effect is given to these principles, and in particular, to ensure that all citizens, that is to say the citizens qualified under the Fourth Schedule, are registered as voters.

In terms of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, a person is qualified to be registered as a voter on the voters’ roll of a constituency if he or she is of or over the age of eighteen years and is a Zimbabwean citizen. The Electoral Act may prescribe additional residential requirements to ensure that voters are registered on the most appropriate voters roll. At the same time a person may be disqualified to register as a voter under the following conditions;

i) if he or she is detained as mentally disordered or intellectually handicapped under an Act of Parliament relating to mental  health

ii) if he or she has been declared by order of a court to be incapable of managing his or her affairs for so long as the order remains in force or 

iii) if he or she has been convicted of an offence under the Electoral law and declared by the High Court to be disqualified for registering as a voter or from voting, however the period must not exceed five years.