WASHINGTON - There was a huge turnout of people today in mobile voter registration centers in Harare and some parts of Zimbabwe with indications that President Emmerson Mnangagwa will soon announce the date of the country’s general elections.
In a tweet, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said, “Register to vote at any of our 73 centers ,check your registration details on bvrinspection.zec.org.zw or dial *265# on a netone number. Voter Educators are on the ground in all country's Provinces sharing information on the mobile voter registration exercise. Get more information as you interact with them.”
Two of the country’s top political parties – the ruling Zanu PF and Citizens Coalition for Change – engaged in a massive voter registration drive in both rural and urban areas.
In an interview, Ian Makone of the CCC, said there are high hopes that millions of voters will register to vote in the forthcoming general elections but the program may be derailed by a breakdown of biometric machines being used by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Wellington Mariga, a Harare resident, said he managed to register to vote today after failing to do so yesterday due to a large turnout.
There are currently more than six million registered voters in Zimbabwe with Harare having the largest number of voters, followed by the Midlands. Matabeleland South with 267,000 voters, has the least number of people on the voters’ register.
The mobile voter registration is being conducted in conjunction with the Registry Department, which is issuing birth, death and national identity documents to locals. However, a registry official said it is not being properly conducted in some parts of the country as there was no proper planning before it was implemented.
Godwin Mangudya also contributed to this article