7.12 The ZHRC recommends that there be fair media coverage for all political parties by the public broadcaster and state owned print media. 7.13 The youths should be encouraged to vote to ensure inclusivity in promoting democracy and wider participation in the choice of leadership. 7.14 Elections should either be held during weekends or election days should be declared non-working and non-schooling days in order to allow the working class, college and university students and teachers, eligible to vote to participate. 7.15 Related to 7.13 above, election planning should ensure that the voting processes do not interfere with children’s right to education because once their classrooms are used as polling stations it disrupts learning. Further, closure of some schools while others continue with their programmes discriminates against those students who must then make up for missed lessons. 7.16 Where elections are held on a schooling day, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should communicate on time with school heads regarding what to do when confronted with electoral processes that require the use of school facilities. 7.17 Voter registration should be an ongoing process in the country to ensure that the voting population does not miss out opportunities to get registered (or transfer to different wards or constituencies) and eventually cast their vote in any subsequent election. 7.18 ZEC should raise awareness on elections in vernacular languages, throughout the constituencies where elections would be taking place. In Headlands, the ZHRC only saw one poster in the Shona language which only informed the public to go and vote in their wards. The poster had no election dates on it. The rest of the posters were in English and had polling dates. Similar challenges were noted in other constituencies. 7.19 ZEC should prioritise the welfare of its staff and officials who are deployed to polling stations by ensuring the timely availability of proper facilities like water, sanitation and offices. Some of the polling stations, especially using the tents were not user friendly for the election officials. Page 14 of 15