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Dr Qhubani Moyo

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
ZIMBABWEANS will today start inspecting the provisional voters’ roll in what the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has described as a milestone in the election roadmap.

The programme starts today at nearly 10 000 polling stations dotted across the country and will run until May 29.

Zec yesterday urged the electorate to participate in the inspection programme to verify whether the details they provided during registration period are captured correctly.

In an interview yesterday, Zec Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo said the process was critical towards the holding of free and fair elections.

“Voter inspection is a milestone in the whole electoral cycle because it signals the beginning of an end in the process of conclusion to the voters’ roll. The voters’ roll is one of the most important documents for the purposes of an election,” said Dr Moyo.

“We know that over the years it has been a source of conflict hence our migration to Biometric Voter Registration for the first time in the history of Zimbabwe.”

Dr Moyo said President Mnangagwa will proclaim the election date upon gazetting the voters’ roll.

“The finalisation and gazetting of the voters’ roll will happen immediately after we have concluded the inspection then that can pave way for the President to then make a proclamation of the elections and calling on when the nomination court can sit,” said Dr Moyo.

He said it is important for members of the public to inspect the provisional voters’ roll so that mistakes could be rectified.

“Citizens are urged not to sit back and relax and say that because I did register my name is in the voters’ roll. It is important for everyone to go out and physically check in the polling station that they said they want to vote from so that they can see whether their name is properly entered into the voters’ roll, their national ID is properly captured and the name is properly spelt and indeed they are in the polling station they desire to be in,” said Dr Moyo.

“This will assist us to ensure should there be any mistakes or omissions, they can then be corrected before the finalisation of the voters’ roll.”

He said Zec will be sending text messages to some of its registered voters encouraging them to visit their polling stations and inspect the provisional voters roll.

“The message is a message that encourages them to go and inspect the voters’ roll. It just states that these are details we have on you, so members of the public who receive these messages should also go and physically inspect the voters’ roll,” he said.

Dr Moyo said the electoral commission was also working towards introducing e-inspection.

He urged members of the public who have not registered to use this period to register to vote as the registration process is still open.

Dr Moyo challenged civic society organisations, churches and political parties to actively participate in encouraging the electorate to inspect the voters’ roll.

“While the yoke is in our shoulders as a commission in terms of the constitutional powers, responsibility to make this happen properly is for all of us as Zimbabweans to work as a collective to make sure that we pull in the same direction. And understand that elections are a national exercise that requires our involvement as citizens,” said Dr Moyo. — @nqotshili