Continuous voter registration

Continuous voter registration
Written by Editor

Having free and fair elections is beyond having transparent ballot boxes.For elections to be free and fair, an elaborate process of conducting elections must be seen to be free and fair, not just on a polling day. This is why the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s mandate is not merely to conduct elections.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia is mandated, inter alia, to carry out voter education, voter registration and to organise and supervise elections.

But usually, and from experience, the Electoral Commission of Zambia does not fully carry its mandate because certain things are not done. That is why every election comes with its own complaints. We are yet to witness an election whose results are accepted by all participating parties or candidates arising from the transparent manner the elections were conducted.

Why is this? It is said that if you are familiar with the beginning, the end will not give you trouble. If you plan a task well at the beginning, the chances of successful completion will be greater.

It is from this angle that concerns by Patriotic Front president Michael Sata on the continuous voter registration must be seen. This process is very critical to rendering elections as being free and fair. That is why continuous registration of voters had to be made into law, which law unfortunately has not been followed by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

The reason for continuous voter registration is simple. This is because voters die and those who die must be replaced on the voters’ roll. Some voters leave the country or move to other cities and towns, so they require to register as voters in their new locations if they are to participate in elections. Other voters just lose interest in elections.

With continuous voter registration, the deaths and movements will have no negative impact on an election in terms of numbers. And the registration has to be continuous because elections are continuous; elections do not come once in five years. In almost every quarter of the year, there are by-elections.

In 2006, Zambia had presidential elections and the next elections were expected in 2011. But the unexpected happened when Levy Mwanawasa died and so in October 2008, Zambia experienced another presidential election.

That is why it is critical that the government, through the Electoral Commission of Zambia, adheres to the law on continuous voter registration to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.

It cannot be denied that the October 30 presidential election attracted a lot of interest but only those who were registered voters participated fully. The huge numbers of people that attended various political meetings is a clear manifestation of the kind of interest the last October’s election generated. In other words, many eligible voters’ right to vote for their preferred candidates was denied because they could not participate in elections as voters because they were not registered.

We remember that some organisations even went to the High Court to try and get some orders to compel the Electoral Commission of Zambia to register voters. But these efforts were in vain. In short, many voters’ were disenfranchised. This is undemocratic and it should not be allowed to continue.

There is no need for the Electoral Commission of Zambia to wait until we are six months away from elections in 2011 for them to start voter registration. The time to do this and do it well is now.

However, there is also need to pay attention to the challenges that the Electoral Commission of Zambia face in this regard. Much as we would like them to carry out continuous voter registration, it should be remembered that this is a very costly exercise, which requires a lot of co-operation and support from the government and other stakeholders. This exercise requires billions of kwacha, which in most cases the Electoral Commission say they do not have.

This is where political will comes. Non-continuous registration of voters in most cases is in favour of the ruling party. So for as long as they can manage, the government will frustrate this process for obvious reasons. And the excuse of money will become convenient.

But we know that there are so many other projects, which are not as important as voter registration, which have received overwhelming financial support from the government. The government always goes out of its way to look for money for things that they desperately want to accomplish. In such cases, money is not a problem to find.

We call upon all those who treasure free, transparent and fair elections to join hands and mount pressure on the government through the Electoral Commission of Zambia to obey the law on continuous voter registration. This is a good and progressive law. But of what good will this law be if it is implemented? A good law that is never implemented is just as good as a bad law.