Pressure mounts on government to halt constitutional amendments amid proposed automatic voter registration for 18-year-olds

By Thandiwe Garusa

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THE Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to stop the proposed amendments to the Constitution and the Electoral Act, which aim to introduce automatic voter registration for 18-year-olds ahead of 2028 elections.

The proposed changes aim to improve voter registration levels and simplify the process by shifting the responsibility for registering voters from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to the Civil Registry Department (CRD), which will automatically register new registrants upon attaining 18.

The system will also trigger the automatic removal of deceased persons from the voters roll upon issuance of a death certificate.

In its latest report, ZESN urged government to maintain voter registration under the ZEC’s authority as it viewed the proposed shift from the electoral body to the civil registry as retrogressive.

ZESN said alternatively, ZEC and the CRD should closely collaborate in order to automatically register new voters and remove deceased individuals and maintain an accurate register.

“Instead of taking a retrogressive approach the focus should be geared towards improving issues and systems that have been heavily contested in courts, such as availing the voters roll on time, especially to political parties.“With the proposal for Constitutional amendments intending to transfer voter registration tasks from the ZEC to the CRD, this move should be approached cautiously, bearing in mind that the Constitution has already been amended twice in the short span of ten years, with Amendment No. 2 alone introducing 23 changes.

“ZEC should continue to make voter registration exercise comprehensive and inclusive and administer it independently to build trust and confidence in the electoral process,” ZESN said.

The elections watchdog warned against shoddy and meaningless alterations to the supreme law of the land.

“To avoid piecemeal electoral-related constitutional amendments, a holistic electoral reform approach that takes into cognisance the Constitution of Zimbabwe, SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections should be considered through the enactment of a comprehensive ElectoraL Amendment.

“There should be restraint in continually or heavily altering the Constitution, as this will affect the stability and continuity of ZEC in executing its roles.

“Rather than seeking to amend the Constitution, strengthening ZEC should be considered as the priority.

“For operational efficiency, the ZEC which is responsible for running elections should conduct voter registration and compilation of voters’ roll.

“However, it should closely collaborate with the CRD in order to automatically register new voters and remove deceased individuals and maintain an accurate register,” ZESN noted.