Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has identified and published 12 370 preliminary polling stations that will be used in the harmonised elections slated for August 23.
The polling stations were published on Wednesday by ZEC’s Chief Elections Officer Mr Utloile Silaigwana in terms of the Electoral Act.
Last month ZEC published a list containing 11 501 polling stations but indicated that some of them were composite and would be split to ensure that the 1 000 voters’ population threshold per polling station is maintained.
Resultantly, the latest list contains an additional 869 polling stations.
“It is hereby notified that in terms of section 51(3) of the Electoral Act that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has identified 12 370 polling stations where polling will take place on Wednesday 23 August 2023 in the Harmonised Elections,” Mr Silaigwana said in a statement.
Mr Silaigwana said the polling stations would open from 7 am to 7 pm for the purpose of electing the State President, members of the National Assembly and councillors. The Electoral Act requires ZEC to publish the schedule of polling stations at least three weeks before polling day in a newspaper circulating in the constituency concerned with the final list being published on polling day.
Meanwhile, ZEC will now accept postal votes until midday on August 20, just three days before the physically harmonised election voting on August 23.
This is a departure from the past when ZEC closed receipt of postal ballots, 14 days before the actual voting day, and has been caused by delays in the printing of ballots due to numerous litigations effected since June 21 when the nomination court sat.
The extension was made by Mr Utloile Silaigwana with the approval of the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi, through Statutory Instrument 140A of 2023 cited as Electoral (Alteration of Period) Regulations, 2023.
Postal voting is provided for under Section 71 of the Electoral Act, which states that registered voters who on polling day will be unable to vote at their polling stations because they will be on official duty are eligible for postal voting.
Positive Eye
