WASHINGTON DC —
Mbizo lawmaker Settlement Chikwinya of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Tsvangirai Tuesday has written to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) seeking an extension of the on-going mobile voter registration exercise by two days so officers can mop up hundreds of people who have failed to register.
Chikwinya told VOA Studio 7 he was forced to write to ZEC following its failure to deploy officers from the Registrar General’s Office for 30 days in each ward as prescribed by the law.
He said registration teams were spending between two and five days in a ward, leaving most eligible voters out in the cold.
"Many voters were turned away because of the frustrations and therefore a lot of people are going to be disenfranchised," Chikwinya said.
Asked in parliament last week why registration teams were not spending the promised 30 days in each ward as required by the law, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede said his department had not been given enough resources to allow the teams more time on the ground.
Chairman Paul Madzore of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Home Affairs, currently assessing voter education and registration processes around the country, said teams from the Registrar General’s Office are working under difficult conditions, including lack of power, cameras and generators to effectively do their work.
Chikwinya told VOA Studio 7 he was forced to write to ZEC following its failure to deploy officers from the Registrar General’s Office for 30 days in each ward as prescribed by the law.
He said registration teams were spending between two and five days in a ward, leaving most eligible voters out in the cold.
"Many voters were turned away because of the frustrations and therefore a lot of people are going to be disenfranchised," Chikwinya said.
Asked in parliament last week why registration teams were not spending the promised 30 days in each ward as required by the law, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede said his department had not been given enough resources to allow the teams more time on the ground.
Chairman Paul Madzore of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Home Affairs, currently assessing voter education and registration processes around the country, said teams from the Registrar General’s Office are working under difficult conditions, including lack of power, cameras and generators to effectively do their work.