ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections ZESN conducted a demographic analysis of the voters’ roll as provided by the Office of the Registrar General on 19 June 2013. ZESN’s analysis was conducted on all 5,890,169 names on the voters’ roll from all 1,964 wards and 210 constituencies compared to the official 2012 Census data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStats). As the voters’ roll stood at 19 June 2013, urban and youth voters were not given an equal opportunity to participate in the elections. If left unaddressed in the final voters’ roll these issues would seriously undermine the credibility of the process. Findings: 1. Missing Urban Registered Voters: Under-registration of eligible voters in urban wards amounting to approximately 750,000 missing in the voters’ roll. The official registration figures show a total of 5, 890, 169 registered voters. Using official 2012 Census figures, it is possible to estimate a national registration rate of 88.55 per cent. However, ZESN’s investigation discovered a significant disparity between registration rates in urban and rural wards, with registration in urban wards at 67.94 per cent but at 99.97 per cent in rural wards. For urban registration rates to be comparable with rural registration rates another estimated 750,000 urban voters still needed to be registered. Table: 1 Table 1: Comparison of registered voters with estimated eligible voters by rural and urban wards Urban/Rural Voters’ Roll 19 June 2013 2012 Census Estimate Difference Per cent Registered Rural Wards 4,278,103 72.64% 4,279,336 64.33% 1,223 99.97% Urban Wards 1,612,066 27.36% 2,372,522 35.67% 760,456 67.94% Total 5,890,169 6,651,858 761,689 2. Missing Young Registered Voters: Under-registration of youth voters in urban and rural wards with approximately 400,000 young voters – youth voters comprise only 5 per cent of those registered. According to estimates from the 2012 Census 18.24 per cent of eligible voters are between 18 and 22 (those who became eligible since the 2008 elections), however just 2.39 per cent of registered voters are between these ages – one ninth of the desired number. Similarly, estimated eligible voters between 23 and 29 years are 22.97 per cent according to the 2012 Census, but registered voters in this age group are just 11.37 per cent, or half the desired number. At the same time, 5.50 per cent of registered voters are between the ages of 70 and 79, although according to the 2012 Census only 3.71 per cent of estimated eligible voters are these ages. And, while 32 | P a g e