By Own Correspondent| The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has printed its sample ballot papers which has 129 political parties, ZEC Chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba has said.
Justice Chigumba said her organisation printed the sample ballot paper with 129 political parties to access the feasibility of including all the contesting parties on the ballot paper
She revealed that the printing of the sample ballot paper was in response to indications by more than 129 parties of their intention to contest the forthcoming polls.
“There has been concern from the public on how we’ll handle the high number of political parties and prospective candidates for the forthcoming elections.
We’ve printed a sample of the ballot paper with all the 129 parties that have so far indicated their intention to participate in the elections. It’s therefore possible to have all the parties appearing on the ballot paper although it’s going to be in form of a booklet.
Justice Chigumba however indicated that the eligibility of some of these political parties to contest the forthcoming elections would be determined by how many of them meet the requirements at the nomination court.
“The number that we have now, which is likely to increase is not the measure of those going to participate given the rigorous vetting process done by the nomination court.
We, however, printed a sample of the ballot paper with the current number so that we’re prepared,” said Justice Chigumba.