Judgment No. CCZ 3/14 6 Const. Application No. CCZ 64/13 THE SPECIAL VOTE Section 81B of the Electoral Act provides as follows: “81B Where special voters must vote; special voters not entitled to vote in any other way (1) An electoral officer or member of a disciplined force who is authorized to cast a special vote in terms of this Part must cast his or her vote at the special polling station for the district in which he or she is performing duties away from the constituency in which, or the polling station at which, he or she would ordinarily be required to vote. (2) A voter who has been authorized to cast a special vote shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner than by casting a special vote in terms of this Part.” In view of the failure by the applicants to facilitate the casting of their votes, the effect of s 81B(2) would on the face of it be that the special voters were denied their constitutional right to vote. There is, therefore, on a reading of subs (2), an apparent conflict between s 81B of the Act and s 67(3) of the Constitution. In this connection, the provisions of s 2(1) of the Constitution, set out below, are relevant. “2 SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTION (1) This Constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe and any law, practice, custom or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency”. THE PRESUMPTION OF CONSTITUTIONALITY It appears to me however that on a proper construction of s 81B, no conflict exists. One commences the process of interpretation of the provision with the presumption of constitutionality. Every statute is presumed to be constitutional, that is to say, the Legislature is presumed to have acted within the parameters of the Constitution. Thus, where a provision in a statute is capable of two possible interpretations, one contrary to the Constitution and the