Mobile Voter Registration A Welcome Move

The move by the Registrar General’s office to introduce a thirty (30) day mobile voter registration service is most welcome especially to young people. This move is expected to go a long way in addressing some of the key challenges that affect young people with regards to voter registration. Chief amongst such challenges has been the proximity of the nearest registration centre. This has been noted as a hindrance to voter registration particularly given the fact that a number of young people are unemployed, have no source of income and therefore can barely afford transport fares to commute to the nearest registration centre. By introducing registration centres within their communities, the Registrar General has made the centres more accessible to the youths and the general citizenry. This move, together with the suspension of fines on lost identity documents contribute immensely to young people’s ability to participate in democratic processes.

However, more still needs to be done to make the voter registration process easier and more accessible to the youth majority. Proof of residence as a voter registration requirement remains a major hindrance to their ability to register. This is due to the fact that most young people do not own property or have accounts that will allow them to prove their places of residence.

Furthermore, a number of young people who have been termed ‘aliens’ continue to face challenges in participating in national processes despite the declaration that they can now participate in Zimbabwean democratic and other processes. This is due to the fact that they need to pay the registry office up to US$40 in order to change their ID. The amount required by registry in this case acts as a deterring factor to the unemployed youths.

In light of the issues noted above the National Youth Development Trust therefore calls for the relaxation of the restrictive requirement of proof of residence by accepting a variety of forms of documentation that could serve as proof of residence.  Additionally, the US$40 fee required to change identity cards for ‘non-Zimbabweans’ should be revoked to allow them to register and vote in the next elections.