INDEPENDENCE OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

The independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (hereafter, “the Commission”) is a critical issue in the management and conduct of elections. It has the role of the umpire in the elections and for that reason must exercise its powers fairly and impartially treating each contestant equally and without fear or favour. Unfortunately, the Commission and its predecessor, the Electoral Supervisory…… …. : more

An Analysis of the General Laws Amendment Act (2016) by ZESN

The General Laws Amendment Act (GLAA) was gazetted and became part of the laws of the land on 1 July 2016. The GLAA took an omnibus approach to amend and attempt to align 126 Acts with the Constitution. Prior to GLAA’s enactment and passage in parliament, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) had made submissions specific to the portions relating to the amendment of the Electoral Act. The analysis focusses on the extent to which the latest amendments address the concerns around the electoral law…read more

Biometric Voter Registration: Lessons from Ugandan polls

On February 18, I went to Uganda to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections there. This was the first election to be held using the biometric voter registration (BVR) system in Uganda. The first lesson I learnt was that BVR and the use of ICTs is not a silver bullet to all electoral challenges. While the BVR machines worked well, they were a number of shortcomings, in particular the electoral environment… read more

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DELIMITATION OF BOUNDARIES IN ZIMBABWE IN 2022

It is highly unlikely that the delimitation process will be completed in time for the report and maps to be adopted for use in the 2018 elections, as the delimitation process must be completed six months before any election. Another challenge will be availability of the new maps and boundaries to all stakeholders including civil society organisations in time for adequate voter education…more