2. INTRODUCTION On the 8th of September 2017, former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, ordered a new registration of voters in all wards and constituencies in the country. The order, made through Proclamation 6 of 2017, acting under section 36A(1) of the Electoral Act, designated the period between September 14, 2017, and January 15, 2018, as the period in which the new voter registration exercise would take place.1 Following the proclamation, The ZEC complied with the order by starting a BVR process on 18 September 2017 in 63 district Centers2 and later instituted a BVR Blitz which began on 10 October 2017 and stretched to 19 December 2017.3 In January 2018, ZEC extended the BVR Blitz through a mop-up exercise from 10 January 2018 to 8 February 2018 on account of requests for an extension from ZESN and other organisations. This following a landmark high court ruling that allowed Zimbabweans of foreign descent, formally referred to as aliens to register as voters.4 This new voter registration exercise is a precursor to 2018 harmonised elections. In line with its mandate to promote democratic elections in Zimbabwe, ZESN observed the entire BVR process, ZESN deployed 2012 observers who were deployed as static and mobile observers from the onset of the BVR Blitz. This observation exercise followed ZESN’s observation of other critical pre-BVR processes including the Polling station mapping exercise, BVR Site Validation Tests, BVR tender processes, and Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) tender processes. The ZESN observation processes sought to measure the ZEC process' compliance with the Zimbabwean Constitution, Electoral Laws, regional and international standards as part of assessing the quality and legitimacy of the BVR process. In addition to the above, the observation process allowed ZESN to witness popular citizen participation and processes towards the exercise of the fundamental right to vote and used its observations to inform its advocacy interventions on electoral reforms. A free and fair election, where every person who is eligible to vote is registered, or is able to register without undue hardship to exercise this fundamental right entails that the system of voter registration be simple, accessible and inclusive. The voters’ roll must be a true and fair reflection of the eligible voting population, without unnecessary exclusion of voters. It must be credible in order to facilitate a credible election. 2.1 Objectives and Methodology Methodology 1 https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/09/president-orders-new-voter-registration/ 2 http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/voter-registration-begins/ 3 http://www.herald.co.zw/voter-registration-blitz-begins-on-tuesday/ 4 See https://www.herald.co.zw/zec-bvr-mop-up-exercise-begins/