Opposition political parties have added their voice to growing calls for the abandonment of biometric voter registration (BVR) amid concerns the system could be prone to manipulation by hostile nations and untenable due to the country’s low Internet penetration. Lawyers and academics were the first to raise the red flag over the implementation of BVR last week, saying electronic voting could create challenges that may be used to discredit the electoral process. Opposition parties share similar sentiments. Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) leader Mr Elton Mangoma called for the abandonment of the process.
In a statement, Mr Mangoma said: “The Constitution of Zimbabwe is never ambiguous on the right to vote by all citizens. “Procuring electronic gadgets of unknown origins and tendencies to screen people for voting is tantamount to taking away their constitutional rights.”
RDZ reaffirmed the call for the use of national identity cards to vote. This, according to Mr Mangoma, was much easier and less expensive. “The only way out is the simple and manageable “munhu-nechitupa-chake formula” considering the time left before next year’s elections,” said RDZ’s statement.
“There are over a million people who are not registered and there will also be need to verify the results. Therefore, Munhu-nechitupa-chake is the way to go.”
Full Article: Zimbabwe: More Thumbs Down for Biometric Voting – allAfrica.com.