Political will is often times the missing ingredient to successful electoral reform. This has been the case with Zimbabwe and many other African countries. However an analysis of the recent changes to Kenya’s Electoral Act reveals a peculiar phenomenon. Political will to amend the Electoral Act was evident…more

Biometrics is a technology used to capture unique physical features such as finger prints and/ or facial scans for the purposes of identification. Biological and behavioural characteristics are stored in a database and used for identification of voters on polling day. BVR can be used to collect this unique data to identify voters and the software used can help eliminate duplicates or multiple registrations due to malpractice,  fraud and human error…more

As Zimbabwe readies itself for the new polling station based and biometric voter registration for the 2018 harmonised elections, it is imperative that efforts and resources are channelled towards ensuring that all eligible voters are registered so that they are able to vote…more

Executive Summary
The promulgation of a new Constitution on 22 May 2013 necessitated the alignment of subsidiary electoral laws with the Constitution. Section 157 of the Constitution particularly obliged law-makers to enact an Electoral Law to give effect to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The legislature has since passed a number of amendments to the Electoral law in fulfillment of Section 157. However it is submitted that the subsidiary laws still fall short of reflecting the full extent of the letter and spirit of the Constitution…more

Executive summary
The purpose of this brief is to articulate recommendations on a policy on voter education, a critical part of the electoral process. This brief outlines the nature of the problem and the policy options available for purposes of enhancing voter education. Voter education has generally been too restricted, severely under-funded and ineffective. The problem of voter illiteracy requires a comprehensive, inclusive and continuous process of voter education…more

Executive Summary

There are dislocations between the progressive Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) and the laws that were crafted underthe Lancaster House Constitution, whichthe government of Zimbabwe is reluctant to repeal and replace with democratic legislation. This has perpetuated the restrictive environment within which the Zimbabwean media operates. Besides the  laws, authorities have also superimposed themselves on publicly owned media entities such as…more

Executive Summary

This policy brief intends to inform and advise on how to improve transparencyin electoral processes in particular the voter registration, voting and resultsmanagement processes. Transparency is a key principle for credible and democratic elections. A transparent election process is ‘one in which each step is open to scrutiny by stakeholders (political parties,  election observers and voters alike), who are able to independently verify that the process…more

Introduction                               

Prior to the promulgation of SI 85 of 2017 on 21 July 2017, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had shared with stakeholders the draft Electoral (Voter Registration) Regulations, 2017, in accordance with Section 192 of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], for input and feedback before finalisation. ZESN submitted written submissions and made oral representations to ZEC with a view to strengthen the proposed regulations in accordance with the electoral principles in the Constitution together with the parent Act, the Electoral Act. These regulations have been enacted after consultations with ZESN and other stakeholders…more

Introduction : A Bill proposing to amend the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:3] was gazetted on 18 September 2017. Titled, the Electoral Amendment Bill, 2017, the Bill seeks to introduce amendments that specifically deal with the voter registration process. The proposed amendments largely cater for the introduction of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system. In this position paper, ZESN discusses the proposed amendments considering the Constitutional principles that set out the minimum thresholds of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections…more

Introduction As Zimbabwe readies itself for the new polling station based and biometric voter registration for the 2018 harmonised elections, it is imperative that efforts and resources are channelled towards ensuring that all eligible voters are registered so that they are able to vote come 2018. The polling based voters’ roll and the implementation of the proposed Bio-metric Voter Registration system (BVR) requires that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) conduct a fresh voter registration process. An early registration process will go a long way in avoiding reportedly chaotic registration process that characterized 2013 harmonized elections…more