The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) has called on Parliament to amend the Electoral Act, to allow diasporans the right to vote in the next general elections in 2023.
Appearing before the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in Harare on Thursday, ZESN director, Rindai Vava said diasporans should be allowed to vote since the government urged them to play a key role in Zimbabwe’s economy. Vava said those in hospitals and prisoners should be allowed to vote. Said Vava:
The Constitution grants every Zimbabwean the right to vote, this electoral law does not give life to, as it excludes millions in the diaspora, prison and hospital. In keeping with the thrust of the new dispensation to include citizens in the diaspora in national development, the selective inclusion of Zimbabweans in the diaspora and those in places of confinement and hospitals must be reviewed.
Vava argued that the diaspora vote should be considered given developments in other African countries in the region such as Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. Her oral evidence was based an electoral petition submitted to Parliament in December last year.
More: Zim Morning Post