community interest between registered voters
existing boundaries, in case of first delimitation
population
4.1.3 Production and finalisation of delimitation report
The current legal framework has extended the interval between delimitation processes
from five to ten years. Voting areas may need to be redrawn periodically because of
population changes or changes to administrative or electoral boundaries. For example,
it may be necessary to redraw a voting area if the area's population has grown too
large for a single polling site or, alternatively, if the voting area has lost population
and it is no longer cost effective to keep the polling site operational. Many countries
redraw voting areas on a regular basis while some countries redraw voting areas on an
ad hoc basis, whenever the voting areas become too large or too small.
Ten years may be a very long time for the redrawing of boundaries in Zimbabwe
given the push and pull factors that cause regular voluntary or involuntary movement
of people within and outside the country. Over the years, there has been population
migration from rural to urban areas and vice versa due to a number of factors. This
has been caused by political and economic factors as people seek greener pastures or
flee political violence. Be that as it may, delimitation has not taken place within the
set timeframe in the past. There is a need for ZEC to ensure that delimitation is
carried out at the set intervals to avoid the development of population inequities29 in
the different wards and constituencies.
The Constitution does not make it a requirement for ZEC to take into consideration
other features such as availability of transport given that some constituencies in
Zimbabwe do not have good road networks or availability of a suitable venue for a
voting station. Further, other factors such as race, ethnic and tribal background are not
a factor. Nevertheless, the Constitution does acknowledge community interest as a
factor, which may ensure that the representativeness principle is achieved.
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