IRIN Focus on voter registration

A visit to Zimbabwe's main NGO website shows how seriously civic organisations are taking the current voter registration drive. "Seize the moment, vote, or wait another 5 years to be heard again!" screams a large flashing message on the 'Kubatana' site. Although NGOs are encouraging every Zimbabwean to register for next year's presidential poll, there's concern that the government-run process lacks transparency and could be the opening shot in attempts to influence the outcome of the crucial poll. "This is not an open and free process, we're not happy that the compilation of the voters' roll is going ahead without any genuine public input," Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) told IRIN on Wednesday. His comments came after another attack on NGOs by President Mugabe at the weekend. Speaking in the southern city of Masvingo, he said that they were sponsors of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The NCA campaigns for a new constitution and has recently called for an independent body to be appointed to oversee elections in Zimbabwe. The registration process is being conducted by a controversial government civil servant, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede. Contacted for a reaction to NGO concerns, he refused to speak to IRIN. Registration for Zimbabwe's presidential poll - which must be held by April 2002 - began in mid-October, but critics, including the opposition, say huge numbers of potential opposition voters are being deliberately excluded from the registration process. "There have been lots of irregularities, including attempts to prevent under-25s from registering and instructions to village chiefs to provide lists of our supporters," Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC told IRIN. An MDC press release said that "the allocation of voter registration teams and the length of time given to each allocation (an average of two days) are completely inadequate". NGOs have other concerns about the registration process. "The onus is on government to facilitate this process. All they have done is put notices in the (government-funded newspaper) The Herald, there has been no comprehensive campaign from them to get people to exercise their democratic rights," David Samudzimu, chair of the Harare Residents Association told IRIN. Many Zimbabweans remain ignorant of the need to register to vote and a government policy to restrict voter education has done little to enlighten people about their rights, Samadzimu added. The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), one of the few NGOs that has embarked on a limited voter education programme, confirmed that lack of knowledge and information was proving a big barrier to mass registration. "Not enough time has been allocated to register people. That combined with ignorance, particularly in rural areas, is going to militate against a successful registration drive," ZESN chair Reginald Matchaba-Hove told IRIN. Rindai Chipfunde, ZESN programme coordinator, said the organisation had 240 registration monitors in place throughout the country and that a report would be compiled based on their findings. "We're worried if this (voter registration) goes wrong it will lead to bigger problems down the line," she said. ZimRights, another NGO campaigning around democracy and human rights told IRIN that the voter registration process would be controversial unti it was independently overseen. "We encourage everybody to get out and register. Yes, we've heard of lots of problems already, but in the current climate of fear here all we can do is arrange to meet the Registrar General and express our concerns," Munyaradzi Bidi of ZimRights said. Zimbabwe's chaotic land reform programme has resulted in sizeable population movements and there are fears that some groups may slip through the net and not be registered. "Land invasions usually result in farm workers being kicked off farms, many thousands of these people are destitute and may not get a chance to register," Matchaba-Hove said. The MDC charges that urban Zimbabweans who registered for land would have to vote in areas they would eventually get the land, effectively disenfranchising thousands of urban voters. The fledgling MDC took control of most urban areas in Zimbabwe after last year's parliamentary elections. But David Pottie of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) warned that irregularities around voter registration and reports of constituency manipulation would have to be widespread to have an impact. "There would have to be very comprehensive interference to make a real difference in this (forthcoming presidential) poll - it's a straight fight, so gerrymandering of constituencies will not have as much impact as it would on a parliamentary election," he said. Voter registration continues in Zimbabwe until mid-December, after this a voter's roll would be compiled, the Registrar General's office told IRIN.