ZESN was accredited by ZEC to conduct voter education for the by-election. ZESN’s contribution included printing and distribution of voter education materials (3,00 pamphlets and 500 posters) and well as offering 3 voter educators to complement ZEC’s own teams which comprised of three voter educators and a supervisor per ward (bringing the total of ZEC teams to at least 36). The ZESN team of voter educators addressed gatherings in various wards, and also conducted door to door campaigns. At the end of the four days that the team was in the field, they managed to reach 4,253 people of voting age (females 2,579 and 1,773 males). ZESN notes that voter education is a resource intense exercise that ZEC has been unable to effectively deliver, and on a continuous basis, largely due to funding constraints. Conducting voter education close to the dates of an election is not ideal because voter educators from ZEC and accredited Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are forced to compete with political parties for attention of the voter. Both ZEC and CSOs operating in Zimbabwe continue to implement programming under considerable financial constraints, hence the need for close collaboration between the ZEC and CSOs that seeks to support the formulation of innovative voter education programs that can better leverage on the limited funding. Voter education content and messaging should be broadened and not just focus on the mechanics of voting but should also be about enhancing knowledge, changing values, attitudes, behaviours and demystifying and allaying fears associated with elections and voting. The curriculum used for voter education should also be responsive to emerging needs and knowledge gaps such as the legal provisions for assisted voters, and the role of traditional leaders. The information should be packaged in a way that appeals to the different categories of voters, including those with visual and hearing impairments. 11 | P a g e