passed on but still appeared on the roll. Any reference to de-duplication and cleaning of the voters’ roll has now been removed from the gazetted regulations in what is clearly a retrogressive step. Section 12 Given the challenges around the accuracy of the voters’ roll already observed in the justheld by-elections, it is critical that provisions relating to the de-duplication processes be restored in the regulations clearly setting out the obligation of the Commission to guarantee an accurate voters’ roll. This section prescribes the costs Despite a previous recommendation to reduce the prescribed costs for the voters’ roll, maps for for purchasing the voters roll, polling areas, wards or constituencies, the regulations have largely retained the figures as they maps for polling area, ward or were in the draft regulations. The major concern remains the pricing regime set out in the constituency. regulations which is clearly exorbitant. Public information should be easily and readily accessible in term of Section 62 of the Constitution. As previously pointed out, the enactment of prohibitive charges is clearly against the spirit of the Constitution, especially where this relates to access to information related to key national process such as a general election. It is recommended that the prescribed fees in Section 12 be revised downwards. Another issue of concern is the provision in Section 12 that anyone seeking to have access to the voters’ roll and electoral maps should apply to the Chief Elections Officer who is based at the ZEC headquarters in Harare. This seems to suggest centralisation of the whole process of access to information which would be cumbersome and against the spirit of the Constitution. It is suggested that the request be decentralised to the provincial and district offices of the Commission. 7|Page