A Zimbabwean court has dismissed an application filed by Harare North legislator, Rusty Markham, for citizens to have access to the voters’ roll to be used in the country’s forthcoming general elections.
Justice Never Katiyo told the court that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has indicated that it cannot distribute the electronic voters’ register to locals due to lack of tight security features.
Katiyo said as a result it’s not possible for ZEC to unveil the register to stakeholders until the commission fixes security issues so that Zimbabweans may not interfere with its contents.
But Katiyo noted that ZEC should follow the law in unveiling the voters’ roll to members of the public.
Markham’s attorney, Denford Halimani, expressed reservations over the dismissal of the case, saying he is now consulting his client for further instructions on the matter.
Section 21 of the Electoral Act stipulates that every voters roll shall be a public document and open to inspection by the public, free of charge, during ordinary office hours at the office of the Commission or the registration office where it is kept.
It further states that “a person inspecting the voters roll for a constituency may, without removing the voters roll, make any written notes of anything contained therein during office hours. The Commission shall within a reasonable period of time provide any person who requests it, and who pays the prescribed fee, with a copy of any ward or constituency voters roll, either in printed or in electronic form as the person may request.”