Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) would like to take this opportunity, after the proclamation on the dates for the critical process of Voters Roll Inspection, to urge its membership throughout the country to go out in their millions and inspect the roll. This is a critical process whose purpose is to among other things allow members of the public to check if their details were correctly captured and if not, have the anomalies corrected. Street vendors must take charge of this important process and erode any chance of being disenfranchised come Election Day. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) shall lay open the country’s Provisional Voters` Roll for inspection by the public from 19 May 2018 to 29 May 2018 in accordance with Section 21 of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13].
We call upon our Socio-Economic Champions (SOCHAMPs) and the recently trained pool Vendors Voter Educator (VVEs) throughout the country to ensure that they activate the “Street Conversations Zones” and create points for information dissemination and ideas sharing during this critical phase of the electoral cycle. Critically, the SOCHAMPs and the VVEs should ensure that fellow vendors and the general electorate bring burial orders or deaths certificates for their deceased registered relatives so that they are removed from the Provisional Voters’ Roll. It is also important to note that during this period, registrants may also take the opportunity to transfer their registration to appropriate polling stations based on new proof of residence. Once all the corrections have been taken on board, the ZEC will then produce the Final Voters’ Roll that will be used in the forthcoming 2018 Harmonised Elections.
VISET urges all its members to take a keen interest in this important process by coming out in large numbers to inspect the voters` roll. ZIMSTAT posits that, street vendors now constitute 60 percent of the now dominant informal sector, for an election to be successful and democratic in Zimbabwe, this critical sector must understand their rights and responsibilities, and must be sufficiently knowledgeable and well informed to cast ballots that are legally valid and to participate meaningfully in the voting process.
We inspect . . . We vote!
We vote . . . Tapinda / Sesingenile!
For further information on SOCAMPS and the VEs use the following toll free numbers:
08080265 for Econet subscribers and
265 for Telecel subscribers
08010265 for NetOne subscribers
Source: Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET)
