Why should you register to vote?

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) resumed the voter registration exercise on April 1 2021, in preparation of the 2023 harmonized elections and the constituency delimitation that is supposed to be done by December 2022 according to the law. In order to delimit an area, a constituency must have a minimum threshold of 26 308 voters. This means that constituencies that do not meet the number of registered voters will be combined with other constituencies. Losing constituencies means people lose representation in their localities.

According to ZEC, Matobo District has two constituencies, Matobo South and North, and they do not meet the minimum threshold of 26 308 voters. Matobo South has 15 824 registered voters whilst Matobo North has 19 103.

In early June 2021, ZEC raised this issue of poor voter registration in Matabeleland South, citing that only 82 people registered to vote between April 1 and May 31 2021. This shows the reluctance of people towards registration, and this has sparked a lot of debate in a lot of spaces on why people are so reluctant and what is the source of the voter apathy.

There are no available statistics or access to the current voter’s role to clearly indicate the population distribution of the registered voters, particularly by gender and age. However, from general observations and assumptions, it is clear that the majority of the population that are failing to register to vote are young people.

This is a really important issue because the Zimbabwean population is relatively young with 65% youths. As such, it also clearly shows that the elderly are the people who appreciate and understand the privilege that is enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Zimbabwean constitution, where every citizen aged 18 and above has a right to vote.

This right to vote, a privilege that was not available for Zimbabweans in the colonial era, is seemingly something the elderly are taking advantage of whilst the young are taking it for granted. In the colonial era, the privilege to vote was granted to the elite, and there were standards that were set for one to be eligible to vote. Those standards were so high that very few, if any, blacks could reach them. So the right to vote which young people are ignoring today, was a privilege that the majority could not access.

The arguments by many today on why young people are so reluctant to vote might be attributed to the political environment which has always been the opposition versus the ruling parties. The fact that the losing party raises claims of rigging has always led young people to see voting as a useless option as their votes are stolen. What they fail to understand is that voting is not just a shift of power but it is an opportunity for people to choose the leadership that they believe can represent them in Councils and Parliament. As such, they fail to understand that by not choosing the people they want, they are giving that power to someone else to choose for them.

The failure of young people to vote and exercise their rights and privilege has also led to poor representation in government. Currently, there are no youths in government representing Matobo District and this means that young people have no one who understands their needs and can work easily with them in addressing their challenges. malcom X, a black nationalist of the 20^th century, argued that people must know what politics is supposed to produce and what part it is supposed to play in our lives.

Some people have argued that it is useless to vote without electoral reforms since it will prejudice other political parties from contesting in a fair environment. This is true since these reforms must be in place so that they align to the modern and regional standards of elections and most importantly, to our Constitution. However, not registering to vote will not solve the problem, it actually makes it worse so itis important for people to raise their voices and call for electoral reforms whilst they are registered as voters.

Some arguments have pointed fingers at ZEC that seems to be not doing enough to improve voter registration. Some say voter registration awareness seems to be only restricted to social media and thus neglecting those who do not have access to the internet. The fact that there is one registration point per district also has contributed to low voter registration and this has affected people in remote areas who are forced to use money to travel. There have been calls for ZEC to have voter registration points in every ward so that people are able to register easily because as it is, there is no motivation for people to go and register to vote.

Even though ZEC have cited that they have inadequate resources to bring the registration points to the ward level, I believe it is their mandate to come up with a solution that is cost effective because at the end of the day, the people who want to register but are incapacitated to travel those long distances are deprived of their rights to vote. People must also try to meet the ZEC halfway but encouraging those who are able, to register to vote particularly those in close proximity to the registration centres. Those who are in remote centers must seek the assistance of CSOs and government officials for transport to reach the registration centres. All this can help in making sure that Matobo keeps it’s two constituencies.

Malcom X in his famous speech, The Ballot or the Bullet said, “We must understand the politics of our community and we must know what politics is supposed to produce. We must know what part of politics play in our lives. And until we become politically mature, we will always be misled, led astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn’t have the good of our community at heart”.