Zimbabwe now has 5,5m registered voters

Close to 145 000 people registered to vote during the period opened for the inspection of the voters’ roll, bringing the total number of registered voters to about 5,5 million.

In a statement, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) said the number of registered voters now stands at 5 524 188, after 144 873 people took advantage of the inspection period, which ended on May 29.

Zec chairperson, Priscilla Chigumba, said as of May 29, 1 489 million registrants physically inspected the voters’ roll while an additional 916 001 used the USSD code *265#.

This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed July 30 as the day of the general elections and September 8 as the run-off date.

“The commission sent 3 256 440 SMS to registrants who provided their phone numbers during registration. In addition 144 873 people were registered during the inspection period bringing the total figure 5 524 188 registered voters,” Chigumba said.

She said stakeholders such as political parties, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations and the media supported the initiative, while government and Zec’s partners provided the funds for the whole exercise. Daily News