without any impediment or additional requirement other than requirements relating to all people. The third applicant (Ms Kachingwe), together with any class of persons in similar predicament, be and are hereby entitled to be, forthwith, registered as voters by the first respondent in the BVR exercise upon production of the identification card endorsed “Alien”, coupled with a birth certificate showing that they were born in Zimbabwe to parents from the SADC region or one of whom is a Zimbabwean and proof of residence. 27 Most of these people referred to as ‘aliens’ did not, however, manage to vote as they did not possess the long birth certificate, a necessary requirement for them to register. 6.5 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Following Zimbabwe’s adoption of the BVR, ZEC awarded the tender to supply BVR kits to Chinese Company, Laxton Group Limited. The tender was awarded after weeks of bid assessments and site validation tests after which a recommendation was made to the State Procurement Board (SPB). In addition to the kits, ZEC also procured an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) from a firm called IPSIDY. Biometric Voter Registration Phases Registration under the BVR process commenced on 18 September 2017, four days later from the day then President Mugabe had proclaimed as the starting date. Through Statutory Instrument 117 of 2017, in terms of Section 2 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, amendments were belatedly effected to Sections 24, 25, and 36 of the Electoral Act. ZESN deployed a total of 2012 static and roving observers to observe at select centres across the country. Registration was initially done, starting in September, at 63 District Centres across the country before it was extended to all wards, in phases, starting from 10 October 2017. The BRV “blitz” commenced on 10 October 2018 and ended on 19 December 2017. However, at the conclusion of the fourth phase of the BVR, the apparent need for an extension of this process was evident in that ZEC had only been able to enrol 65 % of the targeted voting 27 Ibid 35 | P a g e