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(HERALD) Major poll changes unveiled

Major poll changes unveiled
By Takunda Maodza

JUSTICE and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday proposed sweeping amendments to the Electoral Act that will, among other things, ensure election results are made public not more than five days after polling.

He said Cabinet had agreed on the raft of amendments and Attorney-General Mr Johannes Tomana was drafting the Bill. The Bill will be tabled before the second session of the seventh Parliament.

In an interview yesterday, he said: "On July 21, 2009, I submitted a Memorandum of Principles on Proposed Amendments to the Electoral Act for approval by Cabinet.

"Cabinet referred the proposed amendments to a Cabinet Committee made up of six negotiators in the inter-party dialogue and tasked them to look into all aspects of the Electoral Act that might need amending.

"The committee was asked to bring forward recomme-ndations for consideration and approval by the end of August 2009," Minister Chinamasa said.

The Cabinet Committee of negotiators met on March 25, 26 and 29 this year to consider Minister Chinamasa’s proposals.

He said they agreed on them and added others.

The parties have agreed to amend the Electoral Act so that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is obliged to declare Presidential election results not more than five days after the day of voting.

They also proposed the establishment of a Voter Polling Station Specific Voter Registration as opposed to the ward-based voters’ roll system.

Since March 2008, Zimbabwe has used a ward-based voters’ roll with approximately five polling stations per ward.

"In this system, the voter’s name is duplicated in the copies of the voters’ roll, which is often bulky as it contains all the names of the voters in the ward.

"It is proposed that a Polling Station Specific Voter Regi-stration or Voters’ Roll be adopted.

"During election time, only voters registered at that particular polling station vote at that station," Minister China-masa said.

He said the proposal helped with easy identification of deceased voters whose names might still appear on the roll.

Polling Specific Voter Registration also helps minimise the risk of double voting and is more decentralised as voters can register to vote at the polling station in their locality.

Voting is faster as the number on the voters’ roll is considerably reduced facilitating easier identification of voters by polling officers.

Section 125 of the Electoral Act could also be amended so that party candidates fill in a generic form endorsed by their parties.

The nomination form must bear the candidate’s signature to signify his or her acceptance of the nomination.

The candidate or his/her agent should also countersign the form to indicate consent.

Currently, Section 125 of the Act provides that a candidate for an election "shall be nominated by means of a nomination paper signed by five people whose names appear on the voters’ roll".

Further, each political party shall submit to ZEC the names of not more than three persons authorised to make candidate nominations for them.

"Independent candidates or candidates of political parties not registered under the Political Parties (Finance) Act should remain obliged to support the nomination of their candidates by five persons whose names appear on the voters’ roll in the relevant constituency," Minister Chinamasa said.

There is a proposal to amend Section 55 of the Act to make it clear that police officers at polling stations should not take part or interfere with the electoral process and should only maintain law and order.

"The parties also agreed that there be further amendments to Section 55 to make it clear that the Police Commissioner-General should establish at every polling station a police post," Minister Chinamasa said.

Section 59 and 60 of the Electoral Act will also be amended.

The sections presently provide that voters requiring assistance should get help from the presiding officer in the presence of two electoral officers.

Minister Chinamasa said: "The parties agreed to make the following amendments: an illiterate voter be assisted by a person of his or her choice of and above the age of 18 and can exercise his or her right to vote without the presence of the presiding officer or polling officer.

"That a physically incapacitated voter who is unable to vote but is literate, should be permitted to vote with the assistance of a person of his or her choice of and above the age of 18 and without the presence of the presiding officer or polling officers."

The proposed amendments want a visually impaired voter to be assisted by a person of his or her choice who is at least 18 years old, but voting in the presence of a presiding officer.

The presence of the presiding officer is meant to ensure that the voter’s will is respected and complied with by those providing assistance.

Minister Chinamasa said the parties also agreed that ZEC should give all relevant information to political parties and candidates participating in elections, the total number of ballots printed, and the ballots distributed to each polling station.

The amendments also seek to provide for an audit of Presidential election results.

There are also proposals for the amendment of Section 21 of the Electoral Act, which deals with the availability and accessibility of the voters’ roll.

The parties agreed that Section 21 (4) be amended so as to provide that upon request, electronic copies of the voters’ roll are given to parties and candidates contesting in an election free of charge.

This will only be done when it is certain that the information on the compact disc cannot be tampered with.

"The parties also agreed for the following measures to be incorporated into the Electoral Law: setting up of a special body to receive complaints or allegations of politically motivated acts of violence, to monitor and carry out investigations of such reports."

The allegations will be referred to police for expeditious investigations and possible prosecution.

The parties also consented to proposals that ZEC be empowered to summon candidates, election agents or parties accused of engaging in political violence.

Under the proposed amendments, ZEC will be empowered to warn candidates, election agents or parties implicated in acts of political violence and to set up a special court at the magistrates’ level to try such cases.

Under the amendments, the Attorney-General will set up a special unit in his office dedicated to prosecuting cases of political violence committed during elections.

The parties agreed "that upon conviction by special courts, the court can make a special order banning candidates from further participation in the election process".

Amendments to Part XIV of the Electoral Act, which deals with postal voting, have also been proposed.

The parties agreed to limit postal voting to people outside the country on State duty and polling officers, security offi-

cers and any persons involved in the running of the election will be permitted to vote within a week before polling day.

Minister Chinamasa said the parties further agreed to the amendment of Section 125 of the Electoral Act.

Section 125(3) of the Act provides that those who desire to be nominated as councillors should lodge a written certificate of clearance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the relevant local authority.

"The provision has proved to be cumbersome to ZEC with a number of candidates not adhering to the requirement on the basis that ZRP clearance certificates are obtainable only from Harare.

"It is proposed that the provision doing away with clearance certificates whether from the ZRP or from local authorities, be entrenched in the Electoral Act," Minister Chinamasa said.

On Presidential election run-offs, he said parties agreed to maintain the system that provides that the winner should win at least 50 percent plus one vote.

"On 22 June 2010, Cabinet considered the recommendations for amendments of the Electoral Act and endorsed the same in their entirety.

"Drafting instructions for the Bill have been issued to the Attorney-General’s Office," said Minister Chinamasa, who was flanked by his deputy, Mr Obert Gutu.

Labels: ELECTIONS, JOHANNES TOMANA, PATRICK CHINAMASA

posted by MrK @ 3:14 AM