Zimbabwe – Ready for Elections? 19 numbers of people being settled close to constituency boundaries and being registered as voters in the affected constituencies. Some examples include Harare North, Harare South, Epworth and Goromonzi. These complaints have not been addressed by ZEC. 2.10 Voter education Voter education has always been regarded as essential to ensure that the electorate is informed and able to exercise the fundamental right to participate in government,81 especially in instances where the process of voting changes and becomes more sophisticated. The electoral system is now indeed sophisticated: in some instances it remains a first-past-the-post system, and in others it is a mixed system with proportional representation. Many voters may not easily understand the implications of a mixed election system. Voter education by CSOs and other stakeholders therefore remains critical. ZEC bears primary responsibility for conducting programmes of voter education,82 and it must begin such programmes within 90 days before polling day in each election, with the obligation on the government to provide resources.83 ZEC only deployed voter educators around 5 June 2013 – well outside the mandated 90-day period.84 The obligation of the government to provide resources as enjoined by the SADC Principles85 and the Electoral Act, also does not appear to have been met and it is not clear the extent to which the ZEC has fulfilled this mandate, as public information on funds provided for this exercise have not been forthcoming from ZEC. The capacity of the ZEC to provide voter education to people living with disabilities, for example those who are visually impaired, is also not clear. The current provisions on voter education in the electoral laws are harsh and cannot be said to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. They are designed to maintain the monopoly of ZEC and political parties in providing voter education to the exclusion of other independent stakeholders. It is common cause that inadequate voter education hinders full participation in the electoral processes as envisaged in the SADC Principles. The requirements for an organisation to participate in voter education have become more stringent, with identified groupings being recognised/limited on the basis of citizenship or residence status, the identity of those providing the training, the content of the materials to be used, and their funding sources.The Act also puts obstacles in the path of CSOs.86 ZEC may require a civic organisation to furnish it with copies of all its proposed voter education materials; only ZEC may receive foreign funds for voter 81 Part III(e) of OAU Declaration. 82 Section 61(4) of the Constitution and Part IV of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act. 83 Section 15A(1) of the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, as amended. This deadline will be impossible to meet if the … President calls an election at less than 90 days’ notice – as he has done in the case of the forthcoming general election; Section 15A(2) of the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, as amended. 84 “ZEC deploys voter educators” The Herald (5 June 2013) p 2. 85 Principle 7 of SADC Principles. 86 See generally, sections 15, 15B and 16 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act as amended.