There  have  been  protests  and  petitions  by  Diasporans  demanding  the  right  to  vote  during  2017,60   culminating  in  a  legal  challenge  lodged  with  the  Constitutional  Court  by  two  Zimbabwean  lawyers   resident  in  South  Africa  and  one  resident  in  England.61  The  Constitutional  Court  has  agreed  to  hear   the  challenge  on  an  urgent  basis,  considering  that  the  election  is  imminent,  and  “the  substantive   matter  will  be  heard  on  the  7  February  2018”.62  This  is  effectively  one  day  before  the  end  of  the   ZEC  ‘mop-­‐up’,  amid  commitments  by  ZEC  to  finalise  the  voters  roll  by  the  end  of  February  2018.63  It   will  be  interesting  to  see  what  the  Con  Court  rules,  and  whether  this  impacts  on  timescales  for  the   2018  elections….           Zimbabweans  protest  in  Pretoria,  June  2017,  wanting  to  vote  (Photo  NewsDay)       Aliens  and  metal  ID  holders  –  confusion  and  lack  of  awareness     In  terms  of  the  new  Constitution  of  Zimbabwe  adopted  in  2013,  all  citizens  of  the  country  have  a   right  to ��register  and  vote  in  any  election.  The  terms  of  who  can  be  a  citizen  were  revised  in  this   constitution:  anyone  born  in  Zimbabwe  with  one  parent  born  in  the  Southern  African  Development   Community  (SADC)  area  has  an  inalienable  right  to  citizenship.  Previously,  those  born  in  Zimbabwe   who  did  not  have  two  Zimbabwean-­‐born  parents,  did  not  have  a  right  to  citizenship,  and  were   issued  with  a  strange  category  of  ID  card,  which  marked  them  simultaneously  as  registered  in   Zimbabwe,  but  as  an  “Alien”.  In  the  last  few  elections,  those  holding  “Alien”  IDs  have  been  unable   to  vote.  It  was  also  stated  erroneously  in  the  media  that  only  plastic  ID  cards,  and  not  the  old  metal   IDs,  could  be  used  to  register  during  BVR.  ZEC  issued  two  press  statements  in  early  September   clarifying  both  that  Aliens  should  get  new  ID  cards  and  vote,  and  that  metal  IDs  were  a  legitimate   means  of  identification.64                                                                                                                   60  https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/06/diasporans-­‐petition-­‐sa-­‐govt-­‐2018-­‐elections/    http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/breaking-­‐court-­‐gives-­‐green-­‐light-­‐diaspora-­‐vote/.   https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2018/01/18/con-­‐court-­‐to-­‐hear-­‐legal-­‐challenge-­‐to-­‐diaspora-­‐vote.     62  https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2018/01/20/diaspora-­‐vote-­‐ban-­‐hearing-­‐on-­‐feb-­‐7.     63  Munjenjema,  Sharon:  “New  voters  roll  by  February:  Zec”,  in  The  Sunday  News,  12-­‐18  November  2018.     64 http://kubatana.net/2017/09/02/zec-­‐press-­‐statements-­‐1-­‐metal-­‐ids-­‐2-­‐alien-­‐ids/.     61   18