By Senator Carter|I live in Ward 4, Bulawayo East, Bulawayo.
In 2013 we were correctly registered and voted at Whitestone School
IN 2018 my wife and I went to Whitestone School to register for the BVR (Biometric Voter Registration). It all went very smoothly as there was no queue. We were given our VR1 slips(scanned copy) which indicated for both of us, that our polling station was Burnside Garage Tent in ward 4 in Bulawayo East Constituency in the district of Bulawayo.
On 29th May 2018 we went to Burnside Garage Tent to confirm our polling station.
We were informed that we were not registered to vote at Burnside Garage Tent. Instead we were registered to vote at Hornoung Park Tent in Ward 5 in Constituency Bulawayo Central. Our ward as well as our Constituency had been changed.
They suggested we go directly to the Teachers Training College where they assured us the problem would be corrected. On arrival at TTC we were told we should rather go to Hornoung Park to sort it out. So we went there where they asked us to fill in a Voters Transfer form (VR3). (scanned copy)
With the release of the provisional voters roll which we checked we find the following:
M.Carter is registered to vote at Hillside Scout A Hall in ward 5 Bulawayo Central.
My wife J.Carter remains registered to vote at Hornoung Park Tent in ward 5 Bulawayo Central.
The result is we are both registered to vote in different places and in the wrong wards and in the wrong constituency. We are informed it is too late to change.
When I approached ZEC in Bulawayo I was referred to Mrs Khupe the District Election Officer for Bulawayo Metropolitan. She phoned someone in Harare. The explanation she gave me was that ZEC Harare informed her that the initial poll allocation which was printed on my voting registration slip which was incorrect. She said according to my address I should not be voting in ward 4 Bulawayo East.
If ZEC were correcting a mistake then it means that my wife and I were incorrectly allocated in 2013. For this to be true then others in the road where we live should have also been moved. With this information in mind I checked with two close neighbours, one on either side of us in the avenue where we live. Both neighbours had been allocated to vote correctly in Ward 4 at Hillside. We were the only ones who had been re-allocated.
This may be gross incompetence or accidental but on the other hand it may be conspiratorial.
The reason I say this is because there was a period when I was considering standing as Member of Parliament for Bulawayo East in the 2018 election. If I had decided to go ahead with this plan I would have found myself registered in the wrong Constituency and therefore ineligible to become the MP for my own constituency Bulawayo East.
Given the history of ZEC which hid the election results for 6 weeks in 2008 and never released the voters roll in 2013 in spite of court orders, and now with this kind of gross incompetence it is understandable that the opposition is demanding complete transparency.
If I was the Chairperson of of ZEC I would welcome the opportunity to clear the name of ZEC which needs to be disassociated from the past and prepare for a new future. If President Mnangagwa really wanted to reassure the opposition and the international community that ZEC had turned over a new leaf he would be at the forefront of applying pressure on ZEC to show complete transparency. He is strangely quiet. He should stand by Nelson Chamisa and the MDC Alliance in their quest for more transparency around the printing of the ballots.
If ZEC has nothing to hide why do they not agree to these and the other demands of the MDC Alliance? There are benefits to an inclusive approach and no disadvantages, unless ZEC has something to hide which, given the history we must assume it has.
There is deep suspicion around ZEC and our future is at stake.