2013 elections there was limited time to register particularly aliens whose right to vote was
restored under the new Constitution enacted less than three months before the July elections. 1
Again it was noted that the Commission suffered from lack of and delayed funding for the
exercise. From 29 April to 19 May 2013, the Registrar-General, under the supervision of ZEC,
conducted a mobile voter registration throughout the country. However, the funds provided were
not sufficient as there were problems with a lack of personnel, materials and other resources
during the exercise.2 There was also very poor publicity and inadequate voter education. Some
citizens did not know that voter registration was taking place. In addition, many prospective
registrants arrived at registration centers without knowing the requirements for registration. The
requirement for proof of residence thwarted many prospective registrants, particularly in urban
areas.3
When the exercise ended on 19 May 2013, there was much criticism that it was inadequate and
did not capture all those interested in registering. To address these concerns and abide by a
requirement of the new Constitution, a new exercise was conducted from 10 June to 9 July 2013.
Improvements were noted, including more publicity and the deployment of at least two voter
educators per ward, unlike the previous exercise when there were only two educators per
district.4
Time constraints created by the declaration of the election date also obliged the electoral
authorities to compromise normal electoral procedures by combining the voter registration
exercise with the inspection of the voters’ roll. On the other hand, the credibility of Zimbabwe’s
voters’ roll has been a subject of much debate over the years. Opposition political parties and
1
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission - Report on the All-Stakeholders Review Conference on the 2013
referendum and harmonised elections; Harare International Conference Centre, Rainbow Towers 19-21
March 2014
2
ZESN-Report on the Zimbabwe 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections
Ibid
4
Ibid
2
3