Electoral reforms or not.....gone is the diasporan vote

Zimbabweans in the diaspora continue to be unrecognised by their homeland. The ruling by the constitutional court comes as no surprise, for most of us in the diaspora as Zimbabwe continues to deny us the right to vote. The Herald on 20 July 2017 reported that Chief Justice Malaba defended Section 23(3) of the Electoral Act. “Section 23(3) required that a voter be resident in the constituency in which he or she was to vote for purposes of being qualified for registration on the voters’ roll for that constituency. “If the voter became absent from the constituency in which he or she was registered as a voter for a continuous period of 12 months, his or her name had to be removed from the voters’ roll of that constituency,” reads the judgment. The judgement effectively rendered millions of Zimbabweans on the voters roll with a notification that they will not take part in the electoral process in 2018.

The current ruling party welcomes this judgement as it nullifies millions of votes which would have probably gone against them, in favour of the opposition. The only solution for Zimbabweans in the diaspora willing to cast their votes is now left on them to travel for voter registration and the actual vote process. Only a few will manage to achieve this and with Rita Makarau having stated that proof of residence will be required upon registration, the process becomes even more difficult for Zimbabweans in the diaspora. The big question then arises, is Zimbabwe’s electoral process transparent? Does the election enable registration of voters to be simple and open to any citizen? Rather will this electoral process that continues to disenfranchise millions of its country’s citizens outside its borders, transparent enough to allow transition into a new Zimbabwe.

Eventually it all dawns on a Zimbabwe where elections are held on grounds created by the ruling party or its sympathisers, yet the same party is due to contest the elections. It is with this mindset, that you are drawn to believe that only with electoral reform can we see the birth of a new Zimbabwe. Signing out GenerationX