ZIMBABWE ELECTION SUPPORT NETWORK
BIOMETRIC VOTER REGISTRATION UPDATE - NUMBER 19
08 February 2018 –As part of its oversight role on electoral processes, ZESN has been closely
tracking developments relating to the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Mop-up exercise
which ended on 8 February 2018. This update is based on reports from ZESN’s mobile and
static observers who were deployed at selected mop up, district and provincial registration
centres countrywide. ZESN deployed a total of 263 static observers for the mop up exercise.
Turnout
As of 7 February 2018, ZEC indicated that they had registered 5,264,674 people since the
commencement of the voter registration exercise. On the other hand 385,192 people were
registered during the mop up voter registration exercise alone.
Turnout of people wanting to register at district and sub district centers was high in Harare,
Chitungwiza and Bulawayo.
The sub-district centers, especially those in urban areas, were registering over 100 people
per day which indicates that a large number of eligible voters are still yet to register in the
catchment areas of those district centers. In Harare these centers include Town House,
Parliament, Kuwadzana 2 High School and Highfield West’s Zimbabwe Hall. In Chitungwiza
the centers include Chigovanyika Car Park Tent, Chitungwiza District Registry and
Chitungwiza Head Office and in Bulawayo the centers include The Bulawayo Center and
Tredgold Building.
In Bulawayo, the Bulawayo Center was registering between 120 and 150 a day and in
response to the high turnout, ZEC on 7 February 2018, deployed 6 registration kits to serve
the surge in number of registrants. The registration center at Tredgold Building had two kits,
and was also registering between 120 and 150 people a day. On the other hand, high turnout
of registrants was also been noted at Komsitheli registration center at the Registrar
General's complex which recorded between 100 and 120 people a day.
At Kuwadzana 2 High School, in Harare, the center consistently registered more than 100
people daily. The catchment area for this registration center was large as evidenced by the
fact that people from as far as Dzivarasekwa extension, Whitecliff, Grenary and Rainham
were making their way daily to be registered as voters. The situation is exacerbated by the
fact that the BVR kit at this center was, for the most part, operated by one registration
official. Despite the best efforts of the registration official, people had to wait for several
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