The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has lauded the efforts of civil society organisations (CSOs) in voter education awareness campaigns.

ZEC district elections officer, Sithembiso Khupe, gave the commendation at the launch of EkhayaVOTE 2023 campaign in Bulawayo.

The EkhayaVOTE 2023 campaign was launched by Bulawayo-based CSOs to mobilise citizens in the Matabeleland region to participate in the forthcoming electoral processes.

According to the draft roadmap, ZEC has set 23 April, 2023, as the proposed date for national elections in Zimbabwe.

‘I am pleased that this week and last week we saw quite a number of people turning out to our offices for registration’, Khupe said.

‘It shows that your advocacy is working, So as ZEC, we are encouraging and appealing to you to help and assist explaining to the people why it is necessary to register to vote so that they do not believe that they are doing it for someone else. They are doing it for themselves’.

The average voter turnout in Zimbabwe is 45.67 percent, data from the Election Guide shows.

Freedom House also noted that there was a noticeable decline in voter registration in Harare and Bulawayo, possibly due in part to fewer registration kits having been allocated there during the last general election.

‘What people should know is that registration to vote is not politics. We are encouraging people to register to vote’, Khupe added.

‘That is your responsibility where you must make decisions for yourself, for your family and decisions for the country’.

Khupe also warned that Bulawayo is likely to lose three constituencies and more council wards due to low voter registration.

With limited voter registration centres across the country, activists have called on the ZEC to move voter registration online in order to ease the process.

Source: New Zimbabwe

Photo source: CNS/EPA/Aaron Ufumeli