registration. The bill once again fails to address all key provisions of concern that still fall foul of the Constitution and have been raised by ZESN in previous papers. The passage into law or otherwise of this Bill will not resolve the broader problem of incomplete and piecemeal amendments to the electoral law. Despite the latest proposed amendments, it is submitted that several legal provisions in the Electoral Act still require revision, to bring them in line with the Constitution. The existence of potentially unconstitutional provisions within the Electoral Act and other relevant legislative pieces has a bearing on the holding of a free, fair, peaceful and credible election as envisaged by the Constitution and the SADC principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections. ZESN has previously raised concerns on several issues that have a bearing on the holding of a free, fair and credible election and still require revisiting including the following issues:   Addressing the residence requirement to bring it in line with the political rights in terms of Section 67 of the Constitution Addressing the question of the right to vote of categories of voters that include the prisoners, the infirm and the people in the diaspora, in accordance with Section 67 of the Constitution  Ensuring the Accreditation Committee of ZEC constitutes members who are ZEC Commissioners in line with Section 239 of the Constitution  Specifically providing for the Biometric Voter Registration(BVR) system in the Electoral Act by promulgating adequate legal provisions that address administrative and implementation issues of the BVR system  Revisiting voter registration issues such as the, maintenance of the voters’ roll and provisions on voter education in line with the letter and spirit of the Constitution Having said that, the summary below specifically discusses the proposed amendment Bill: Clause to the Electoral Amendment Bill Clause 1 3|Page Summary of amendment to the Electoral Act Commentary and analysis of the amendment The Clause provides the short title of the act, namely The Electoral Amendment Act, No substantive comment AN ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTORAL AMENDMENT BILL ©ZESN 2017