This policy brief intends to inform and advise on how to improve transparencyin electoral
processes in particular the voter registration, voting and resultsmanagement processes.
Transparency is a key principle for credible and democratic elections. A transparent election
process is 'one in which each step is open to scrutiny by stakeholders (political parties, election
observers and voters alike), who are able to independently verify that the process is conducted
according to procedures and no irregularities have occurred.'The essential steps in this context
being: (a) who is going to be on the voters' roll (voter registration) (b) how is one going to cast
(voting) (c) counting of the vote, announcement of resultsand chain of custody (results
management). Transparency in an election helps to establish credibility and public confidence in
the polls, as the citizens can scrutinize whether the polls are a true reflection of the choice of the
people.
The ability to exercise the above mentioned principles is largely outlined in the Constitution of
Zimbabwe (chapter 7), the Electoral Act as amended on 1 July 2016 and relevant schedules.
However, there are four areas that need immediate attention to enhance the transparency of the
2018 electoral processes. The observations are premised on contemporary policy
inadequacies, practices and regional and international principles.In short, (a) Voter registration
must happen under public scrutiny to ensure that it is all inclusive, accessible, complete and
insulated from undue influence,(b) Voting must be monitored to ensure integrity of the process
and secrecy of the vote- that is no voting method (manual or electronic) or election official shall
make it possible to determine by any means how a person votes in an election (c) Votes must be
counted, transmitted, verified and collated under public scrutiny at all times with timely
announcement of accurate results and (d)all materials used for the election must be stored safely
and must be available to the public after any election for any verification processes.To
substantiate and elaborate our policy submissions we look at the problem in the next section.
A credible reservoir of research show that a significant part of Zimbabwean citizensview
transparency in electoral processes in particular the voter registration, voting and results
management processes elections as inadequate. Yettransparency in elections is important in
ensuring credibility, democractiness and acceptability of elections. Due to lack of transparency,
major opposition political parties have never accepted the outcome of Zimbabwe general
election results in the new millennia. To establish and maintain public confidence in the electoral
system there is need for political parties, election observers and citizens togain access and be
able to scrutinize and verify the processes. Without transparency, Zimbabwe's 2018 general
elections will be disputed as before and this will not augur well for the country's democratic and
economic development. It is therefore important to continue to search for solutions in improving
transparency in registering, voting, counting and chain of custody from not only local but
internationally accepted regulations.
Critique
Transparency in voter registration and voting is inhibited by policiesand practices that seek to
limit independent public oversight and citizeninvolvement in the election processes. To begin
with, section 40C of the Electoral Act which stipulates that voter education materials must be
'adequate, current, correct and not misleading or biased infavor of any political party'can lead to
arbitrarily exclusion of voter educators perceived to be unfriendly to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) and therefore limit transparency in public participation and scrutiny.What is
'correct' can become value laden and subjective withouta legal definition of the benchmarks. The
lack of transparency in the lawcantherefore lead to expensive, arduous and long drawn legal
battles between ZEC and would be voter educators in ways that will sour relations.In addition,
the Electoral Act complicates the process of clearing the voter education materials as
stakeholders must submit the voting material to ZEC 28 days before their use.
Enhancing Transparency in Zimbabwe's Electoral Processes:
Voter Registration, Voting and Results Management
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