Thread by @table_girls

We are attending a Zoom meeting on the, "Implications of the untely closure of the Voters' Roll for both Local Authority and National Assembly ahead of the upcoming By- Elections."
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Ellen Dingane: ZESN Programs Coordinator, on whether the closure of the Voters' Roll was untimely says, "Once proclamation is done closure of voters roll takes place two days later. Any reforms that pertain to the law should not happen close to an election.

This affected citizens in terms of movement due to Covid restrictions & also centralization of the registration process. People in Vic Falls have to travel to Hwange which is 100km away. ZESN hoped there would be special provisions especially

for those places where there will be By- Elections. Some wards have gone for 2 years without any representation.
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Jabu Mhlanga from @ZLHRLawyers, defines elections as a process where citizens are given an opportunity to select someone to a public office. Chapter 7 part 1 of the constitution says elections should be held regularly, peaceful, conducted by secret ballot & free from violence.

Section 159 when a vacancy occurs the authority in charge of elections must cause for elections to be held to fill in the vacancy. Last year April ZEC said elections were suspended following the proclamation by the President in light of the global pandemic.
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The closing of the Voters' Roll is in terms of the law but there are challenges. Election activities were suspended in 2020 leading to suspension of election related activities such as voter education, voter registration.
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Restrictions on movements led to failure by some to access births, I.Ds and registry offices were sometimes closed. Prisoners can now participate in elections but voters roll has been closed ahead of the By- Elections.
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Dr Fayayo Chairperson of @EkhayaVote2023 says as Ekhaya Vote we have a good working relationship with @ZECzim. Why is it important to have elections? To make a government, citizens have a role in making a government. The government should mirror...
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aspirations of citizens and reflect what citizens want. Elections provide an opportunity for us to elect our representatives. We have elections so that we are able to influence policies. When we go for elections we are trying to build legitimacy. When we have doubts...
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about the electoral process then the legitimacy is compromised. In a democracy the judiciary is important as this is where we are all given an equal platform.
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The electoral management body is critical as it is supposed to be neutral and treat all parties and citizens fairly. When that fails to happen then there is a problem. When @ZECzim
said only 2000 people registered questions were raised on how that was possible...
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considering the resources that have been channelled towards that process. There is now a perception that there is a deliberate move by @zeczim few people register to vote. The other perception is that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between @ZECzim & @ZANUPF_Official

Another perception is that the 26 March 2022 by-elections are a miniature of next year's elections. The By- elections are being used to test the waters for the 2023 elections. These perceptions are not good for elections, they are not good when trying to give people...

confidence in the electoral process. People end up not being confident in the elections.
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Sichelesile Mahlangu an aspiring candidate says she is ready for the By- Elections as she has been working on the ground. Despite being wrongfully recalled she didn't stop working as she doesn't want her constituency to suffer. She says despite citizens being promised...

a voter registration blitz it did not happen. She says some people are not even aware that there are By- Elections. In rural areas some don't know there were recalls so how then can they participate? A lot of work is needed in rural areas in terms of information dissemination.

Electoral processes are not being followed. There are appeal cases pending at the courts, what happens when one wins and the By- Elections have taken place?
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A participant says, "This is nothing new that ZEC is doing. They have been doing these type of shenanigans from the way back. My question is how can ZEC be forced to change, because clearly they are not changing. Is there something else that can be done to force ZEC to change?"

Another participant says, "I am interested in understanding the implication of ZEC publicising the list of 'approved' organisations conducting voter education in the country."

"The conduct of ZEC has on its own actually discredited and affected the credibility of the electoral process. ZEC is obligated to register people and actually make it easier for people to do so, so it is absurd and ridiculous for it to position themselves as an institution...

that celebrates that few people registered. Even to see the permanent secretary for information and publicity actually laughing at the efforts by citizens to encourage people to vote."
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"I commend the courage & efforts that have been made by Cele Mhlangu regardless of her being recalled. If we had a lot of such leaders, then residents were definitely not going to feel the negative impact of these recalls and vacums that they bring. But it is unfortunate that...

a lot of residents and even local authorities are feeling the pressure left by these gaps as far as service delivery is concerned. So this issue is really an issue that has to be addressed. As the brother from ZLHR said, these recalls have been constitutionally postponed,...

and I feel a lot of stakeholders agree that they are long overdue as the country has already opened up most sectors."
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"Accountable democracy is what the people of Zimbabwe want right now . unfortunately it is now sort of a norm for ZEC to play hide and seek or brainteaser with the citizens of Zimbabwe."
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Another participant says instead of prioritising e-passports the government should have fixed the back log of ID's as some youths have been failing to get ID's for a year now and as such failed to even to register to vote.
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