ELECTORAL ACT
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17A Voter registration to be conducted continuously
(1) Voter registration shall be conducted on a continuous basis so as to keep the voters rolls
up-to-date.
(2) Pursuant to subsection (1), every person claiming to be a voter shall be entitled, at any
time while the voters roll is open, to lodge a claim for registration as a voter or for the transfer
of registration as a voter in terms of this Act—
(a) during normal working hours on any working day, in the case of a registration office;
or
(b) during the period when a mobile voter registration facility is operating in the area
where the voter wishes to be registered as a voter, or from or to which he or she wishes
to be transferred as a voter.
[Section inserted by s. 19 of Act No. 17 of 2007]
18 Commission to register voters
(1) In this section—
“former Registrar-General of Voter” is a reference to the Registrar-General of Voters
appointed in terms of section 18 of this Act before its substitution by this section
through the General Laws Amendment Act, 2016;
“Registrar-General of Births and Deaths” means the person referred to in section 3(a) of the
Births and Deaths Registration Act [Chapter 5:02];
“Registrar-General of Citizenship” means the person referred to in section 3 of the
Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 4:01];
“Registrar-General of National Registration” means the person referred to in section 3(a) of
the National Registration Act [Chapter 10:17].
(2) The Commission is deemed with effect from the 22nd May, 2013 (being the
“publication day” of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013), to have assumed the functions of the
former Registrar-General of Voters, that is to say such functions as were imposed or conferred
upon the Registrar-General of Voters by or under this Act before the 22nd May, 2013, including
in particular the functions of registering voters, compiling voters’ rolls and registers, ensuring
the proper custody and maintenance of voters’ rolls and registers, and all other functions in
connection therewith:
Provided that, consistently with section 239(j) of the Constitution, the Commission may
give such instructions to the former Registrar-General of Voters, in his or her capacity as the
Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, the Registrar-General of Citizenship and the RegistrarGeneral of National Registration, as will ensure the efficient, free, fair, proper and transparent
conduct of any election or referendum.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Commission may—
(a) direct the Chief Elections Officer, a voter registration officer, the former RegistrarGeneral of Voters or (subject to paragraph (b)) any member of the Civil Service to
assume and exercise any function which in terms of this Act before its amendment by
the General Laws Amendment Act, 2016, is vested in a constituency registrar;
(b) with the consent of the Civil Service Commission, instruct any member of the Civil
Service to assist it in any of its voter registration functions in terms of this Act;
(c) in relation to an election to which Part XVIII applies, delegate any of its voter
registration functions in terms of this Act, the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter
29:13] or the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] to a member of the Civil Service.
(4) The Commission and the former Registrar-General of Voters, in his or her capacity as
the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, the Registrar-General of Citizenship and the
Registrar-General of National Registration, have a duty to co-operate with each other to ensure
that their respective databases, as they relate to the eligibility or potential eligibility of voters,
are in harmony with each other.
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