In  Harare  and  particularly  in  Bulawayo,  alarm  bells  rang  as  early  figures  for  registration  here  lagged   behind  other  provinces.  While  the  three  Matabeleland  provinces  have  the  three  smallest   population  bases  according  to  ZIMSTATS,  the  lag  in  registration  figures  exceeded  that  in  other   provinces  in  the  early  phases  of  registration  in  percentage  terms.  The  fourth  column  is  a  sum  of   the  potential  voters  in  the  three  Matabeleland  provinces,  a  combined  total  that  is  greater  than   any  other  single  province,  apart  from  Harare.  After  the  first  phase  of  registration  had  passed  the   midway  mark,  the  comparative  provincial  registration  figures  were  as  shown  in  Graph  2  below.         Graph  2       BVR  Numbers:   18   October   2017    (ZEC)   111881 120000 109607 92183 100000 82493 80192 80000 69848 60000 44341 40000 20000 84642 18216 25841 25791 0     By  18  October,  only  4%  of  Bulawayo  voters  had  registered,  compared  to  7%  of  voters  registered  in   Mashonaland  East,  or  11%  registered  in  Masvingo.  6%  of  Harare  voters  had  registered  by  the  same   date,  also  representing  a  depressed  turnout.  Civic  observers  in  Bulawayo  noted  with  deep  concern   that  most  BVR  officials  were  slouching  somnolently  over  empty  desks,  waiting  for  the  tiniest  trickle   of  would-­‐be  voters  to  enter  their  tents  looking  to  register….     By  the  end  of  Phase  2,  Bulawayo  had  dramatically  increased  its  registration,  by  more  than  fourfold   on  Phase  1,  to  a  cumulative  total  of  21.7%  of  voters.  However,  this  remained  the  lowest   percentage  registration  rate  of  all  provinces,  followed  by  Matabeleland  South  with  28.2%,   Mashonaland  West  with  28.5%  and  Harare  with  almost  30%.  Matabeleland  North  increased  its   registration  to  34.8%.       Column  four  shows  the  BVR  figure  for  the  three  Matabeleland  provinces  combined,  which  had   fewer  registered  voters  than  any  other  single  province  with  the  exception  of  Mashonaland  West,   after  the  first  few  weeks  of  BVR.85  The  Mash  West  figure  was  more  than  double  that  for  Bulawayo,   and  Bulawayo’s  figure  was  below  that  of  the  two  Matabeleland  provinces,  both  of  which  have   smaller  populations.  Harare  figures  were  also  low,  considering  that  this  province  has  a  population                                                                                                               85    All  figures  are  from:  Chikwati,  Elita:  “Zec  records  low  voter  registration”,  The  Chronicle,  19  October  2017.     25