Mobile BVR ends

By Kuda Bwititi

The mobile Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) ends tomorrow with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) ruling out a further extension. Registration will, however, continue at ZEC’s district centres.

Over 5,1 million prospective voters have registered for this year’s harmonised elections, according to the Commission’s website.

ZEC deputy chairperson Mr Emmanuel Magade said in an interview: “Mobile voter registration will end on February 8 and this is now final. There will be no further extension, meaning all those who want to register will now have to do so at our 73 district offices.

“We now need to look at de-duplicating the voters’ roll and clearing any other anomalies. So, de-duplication will come soon after the mop-up and then we will come up with a provisional voters’ roll that will lead us into inspection by the public.

“We should have the final voters’ roll (perhaps) by May, after which we will await the Presidential election proclamation. We can, therefore, say Constitutional timeframes are achievable.”

On election observers, Mr Magade said: “The President has set the tone by saying the United Nations, the European Union and other international observers are welcome. Our own belief, too, is that we have nothing to hide.

“So, we welcome all observers. We are an independent commission and will run the elections according to the law. Observers are welcome as long as they undergo the normal accreditation process. We hope they will not prejudge us and will not come with preconceived ideas, but with objective and open minds.

“Wherever criticism is warranted, we accept that they should criticise. We are willing to listen to criticism and take corrective action where possible just as we have addressed concerns raised during mobile voter registration.” The Herald