ACCESSING THE NATIONAL VOTERS’ ROLL THROUGH THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN ZIMBABWE Justice Alfred Mavedzenge1 Abstract The call for electoral reforms in Zimbabwe has been at the centre of deliberations on political governance and democratic reform in the country. The Constitution2 prescribes minimum standards and principles to which the conduct of elections in Zimbabwe must adhere. Zimbabwe is also bound by the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections which should give effect to amendments to the Electoral Act3 and related legislation.4 Amongst the key changes5 which must be made to the Electoral Act are those giving the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) the independence to fundraise for its operations; the independence to decide on foreign observer missions without interference from the sitting government; allowing diaspora Zimbabweans to cast their vote in elections; and imposing certain professional standards6 to be applied by ZEC when recruiting staff. The main opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has collaborated with other opposition parties7 to craft a document titled the National Electoral Reform Agenda, which details the reforms required to give effect to the standards and principles prescribed by the Constitution. However, the issue of public access to the national By Justice Alfred Mavedzenge, a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Public law at the University of Cape Town and a practising constitutional lawyer in Zimbabwe. 2 2013. See in particular sections 155, 156 and 158 3 [Chapter 2:13] of Zimbabwe 4 Including the legislation governing freedom of the media, freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly. 5 This information is gleaned from unpublished position papers presented by various Zimbabwean civil society organisations and academics. Some of the information can be obtained from https://erczim.org/?cat=36 (Accessed on 29 July 2016) 6 To protect the independence and integrity of ZEC. It has been argued that these standards should, amongst other stipulations, prohibit the recruitment of serving State security agents to work within ZEC as this may undermine the independence of the Commission 7 Which include the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube, Transform Zimbabwe, the African Democratic Party and Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe. 1