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Comment: Registration of youths to vote as an integral part towards responsible citizenry

Zimbabwe uses a continuous register which in overall is managed by the Registrar General’s office. In essence this means that voter registration according to the confines of the Electoral Act, is an ongoing process. Unlike in other countries, which use the civil registry or the periodic list. The civil registry states  that  the list of information for all citizens is maintained by the state and the citizens by law are supposed to report promptly any change in physical address .Whereas as the periodic list that only limit registration to a specific period.

The basic advantages for this continuous registration process is that youths in particular that have recently turned 18 can voluntarily register themselves to vote when they feel like doing so. Another advantage generally associated with this process has been the fact that it is cost effective to run as compared to the other two types.  However, despite this system, research conducted partly by NYDT through various consultations with the youths as well as contributory researches from other youth focused organisations, indicates that youths have generally not been forthcoming on voter registration.

Despite consisting of over 60 percent of the population the youths have generally not used these demographic statistics to become the determining force in electoral decisions. Over 83 percent of the youths in Zimbabwe are not registered voters. These statistics are shocking and clearly show that a significant percentage of the youth population in Zimbabwe has not been exercising their democratic right. Even the voter trends in Zimbabwe show that since 1985 to date, less than 37 percent of the registered voters actually turnout on polling day to cast the ballot. When analysing this statistic further it is worthwhile to note that the number of youths that generally participate in elections on average is less than 17 percent. Clearly this is a problem that needs to be rectified.

One of the reasons for such poor participation highly indicated by the youth has been that they lack confidence and “ownership” in the total voter registration process. The fact that some that have registered find their names misspelt, missing or in some cases not in their respective wards, is clear evidence to them that there is no accuracy in the voter’s roll. Such conceptions have been further exacerbated by reports from the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) that indicate that the current voter’s roll contains names of people that passed away, under aged and some that never existed. Such cases have led to the youths concluding that the elections held in Zimbabwe are prone to rigging and overall they are not free and fair.

Poised in this issue is the case that most youths that attempt to register to vote are not treated fairly and the registration process whether deliberate or not has been cumbersome. A weird case that NYDT noted is of one youth that was turned away after the registration officer demanded a birth certificate. This occurred despite the fact that the said youth had as per the provisions of the Electoral Act, an Identity card and an affidavit clearly signed by the guardian as proof of residence. Additionally, the cumbersome process has been noted when the registration officers owing perhaps to shortage of human resources attend those youths that want to register in the late hours of the afternoon. Such a service does not take into cognisance that most youths that have interest in registering usually come in the early hours of the morning. Such poor service has contributed in most youths losing interest in registering to vote. It is therefore such revelations by most youths that led to Youth Agenda to conclude that 67 percent of the population have challenges in registering to vote.

Based on these and other researches therefore, it becomes clear that rigorous attempts should be focused towards catering for the youth constituency. It is in line with this broader objective that National Youth Development Trust strongly recommends the following to the Registrar General’s office.

·         The Zimbabwean government as a signatory to SADC Parliamentary Forum, Norms and Standards of Elections should create a conducive environment for conducting elections which are fully respected by the international committee.  

·         In line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of rights Article 21 (18) as well as the International Covenant on civil and political rights article 25 (9), the government of Zimbabwe should ensure that adequate structures have been set so that basic rights of the youths are upheld.     

·         The Registration Process should be faster and less cumbersome, NYDT in this regard suggest that the Registrar general’s office should consider unveiling this registration through an internet facility so that most youths( whom a significant population is computer literate) can register as voters without the hassle of queuing at the few available offices.

·         Electoral reforms must be enacted by legislators so that credible elections are conducted in Zimbabwe and youths in particular have confidence in the electoral processes.