terms of section 19(1) to be a voter registration officer, and
includes any person assisting the Commission in that capacity
(c) Substitutes the term, “district special voting officer” with
“district elections officer".
(d) Repeals the definition of "Registrar-General of Voters".
Section 2
Section 3
The section repeals paragraph (d) of Section 10 of the Principal Act
that relates to staff seconded to work on special voting
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This Section repeals the entirety of sections 18 and 19 of
the principal Act and introduces new provisions and
definitions which purportedly seek to bestow ZEC with the
sole mandate of electoral management, in line with the
Constitution.
The amendment introduces, rather unusually, a definition
of the term, "former Registrar-General of Voters", in
reference to the Registrar General of Voters appointed in
terms of section 18 of the Principal Act before its
substitution by the current section through the General
Laws Amendment Act, 2016;
The Amendment also defines the terms, "Registrar General of Births and Deaths”, and the "Registrar-General
of Citizenship" and the "Registrar-General of National
Registration
Section 3 also purportedly confers on the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, the functions of the registration of
voters and abolishes the office of the Registrar-General of
voters.
The Section gives a substantial role to the office of the
former Registrar-General of Voters, in his or her capacity
as the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, the
Registrar-General of Citizenship and the Registrar-General
and Registrar-General of National Registration. This is
Voters. This amendment aligns the Act with the Constitution by the deletion
of offices that are not envisaged by the Constitution
Because the special vote provisions have been repealed, the reference to a
“district special officer” becomes redundant hence the deletion of the term
This is consistent with Section 239 of the Constitution that gives the
Commission the sole mandate to manage elections.
Because the special vote provisions have been repealed this definition had
become redundant hence its repeal
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The repeal of the former section 18 and 19 of the Electoral Act is
probably the most substantive amendment made by the General
Law Amendment Act to the Electoral Act to purportedly bring it in
line with the provisions of the constitution.
Firstly the amendments effectively abolish the office of the
Registrar-General of Voters that was mainly responsible for
registering persons and compiling the voters roll.
Secondly the amendment specifically gives effect to Section 239(c),
(d) and (e) of the new Constitution by transferring to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission the responsibility for registering voters,
compiling voters' rolls and registers and ensuring the proper custody
and maintenance of Voters' rolls and Registers. In this sense, the
amendment is commendable as it is in conformity with the letter
and spirit of the constitution.
However a closer scrutiny of the wording of the amendments shows
that the amendment does not adequately and fully comply with the
constitutional provisions. The Amendment seems to still retain a role
for the abolished office of the registrar general, which is referred to
as the former Registrar General of Voters.
Particularly worrying is the proviso to Section 3(2) of Part VI of the
Amendment which provides that, “Provided that, consistently with
section 239(j) of the Constitution, the Commission may give such
instructions to the former Registrar-General of Voters, in his or her
capacity as the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, the Registrar-