Former Primary and Secondary Education Minister, David Coltart, has said it is unconstitutional for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to demand US$187 000 for a copy of the voters’ role.
The Election Resource Centre (ERC) Thursday said they received the US$187 000 invoice after requesting a quotation from the electoral management body. ERC director Babra Bhebe told stakeholders at a delimitation conference in Bulawayo:
As ERC we submitted a request to Zec to have access to the voters roll that it is going to use for the delimitation process. We received a response that it can only give us the hard copy. We then went ahead and requested an invoice and we got a quotation of above US$187 00 for us to be able to access the voters roll.
Coltart, a member of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said ZEC’s move was in violation of the constitution. Said the law expert:
So @ZECzim says it will charge US$187,000 to provide a copy of the voters roll. Not only is this illegal it also breaches section 68 of the Constitution. It is clearly designed to prevent opposition parties from being able to audit a fraudulent voters roll. #Zimbabwe
And if the US$187,000 is paid only a paper copy will be provided so it will still be difficult to audit. There is no reason why an electronic copy cannot be provided, it is simply ridiculous to say that it will be manipulated. The original copy stays intact with @ZECzim.
Meanwhile, Jealousy Mawarire, a founding member and current spokesperson for the National Patriotic Front says ZEC is not the problem. He said:
If u remove emotions, u will focus on where the problem is, the law, SI145 of 2022, which demands ZEC charges $1 a page for a printed copy of the voters roll,not the independent commission enforcing the law. Say ZEC charged anyone $0.10 when the law says $1, will that be legal?