Villagers in Gokwe North have called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to further decentralise voter registration centres to enable more citizens to register for next year’s general elections.
Chief Njelele of Gokwe North said villagers travel long distances to the district centres, which frustrates some.
“People really want to register to vote but the problem now is that the registration centres are a bit far. Some of them get frustrated and end up not registering because of long distances they have to walk just to register,” Chief Njelele said.
He added: “What we are therefore requesting is that ZEC puts in more stations so that a lot of people can get an opportunity to register without having to walk long distances.”
Chief Njelele said the long distance people travel to register is one of the reasons most people in rural areas do not vote.
“It’s high time the commission considers setting up more centres in rural areas so that a lot of people can register. With more centres being available l believe the number of registered voters especially in rural areas will go up.”
The ZEC has been embarking on a mobile voter registration blitz to ease the process for citizens. The number of registered voters in the Midlands province is now over 700 000, out of a total of over one million eligible voters