5.3 Zimbabweans of Foreign Descent: The So-called “aliens” “Aliens” as an exclusionary and almost derogatory category of Zimbabweans is applied by the Registrar General’s office to Zimbabwean citizens who were born of migrant parents. This is despite the fact that the Zimbabwean Constitution outlawed this categorization when it restored citizenship to all persons whose parents were migrants from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. The process of regularizing documents to reflect this change has also been costly, onerous, and at times exclusionary. The State has a positive duty to ensure that citizens who were previously excluded on the grounds that they were aliens are given proper documentation without charge so that they can enjoy their full rights of citizenship, including the right to register as voters. At the beginning of the BVR process, Zimbabweans of foreign descent, so called "Aliens", were being turned away. The constitutional position, articulated above, was buttressed by a decision of the High Court of Zimbabwe when Sarah Kachingwe and the MDC- political party formations successfully sought an order to compel ZEC to register “aliens” as prospective voters for the 2018 general elections during the BVR Blitz exercise. High Court Judge, Justice Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa, issued an order granting so called “aliens” the right to register to vote on condition that they satisfied residency requirements and produce their "Alien" endorsed Identity documents together with a birth certificate, on 30 November 2017. Despite the November 30 ruling, some so-called “aliens” faced difficulties in securing identity documents that confirmed their status as full citizens leading to the BVR processes inclusive nature being limited. 5.4 Continuous Registration Section 17A of the Electoral Act, provides for continuous and on-going voter registration. There should never be a time where ZEC refuses to register citizens as voters. This is contrary to the common belief among citizens that voter registration only takes place a few months before the elections. It is true, however, that interest to register is heightened just before elections. Nevertheless, a citizen must be able to attend at the voter registration offices to register at any time. This position was reaffirmed by the High Court in a 2015 case in which the judge stated that the law requires that; “There be a continuous system of registration of voters. This is a mandatory duty from which the commission and its chairperson cannot abdicate or postpone as it is an ongoing process which they cannot suspend”. 5.5 Compilation of the Voters’ Roll As already stated, ZEC has the constitutional mandate to compile the voters’ roll. The said voters’ roll must be suitable for polling station-specific voting i.e. polling station-specific voters’ rolls. The process of compiling the voters’ rolls can be complex, since it involves a huge amount of data that has to be analyzed and categorized according to the different rolls. There is always a risk of duplications, and a viable voters’ roll compilation process has to involve de-duplication of names on the rolls to ensure he accuracy and credibility of the voters’ rolls. 20