ZEC sweats over lack of funding for voter education, to partner CSOs

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says it is struggling to mobilise money to fund voter education, a critical electoral process as the country prepares for the 2023 polls.

ZEC Chief Elections Officer Utoile Silaigwana says the Commission is facing financial challenges to fund voter education, amid other setbacks such as the devastating effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.

“Some of the challenges we are facing as your Commission is Covid-19 pandemic and limited funding for voter education,” he said while giving oral evidence to a parliamentary committee yesterday.

Silaigwana bemoaned the tendency by some partnering organisations to resurface only during election time saying it compromises the continuous voter education.

“Voter education and information are critical elements in building voters confidence and will continue to shape the integrity of the electoral processes in Zimbabwe,” he added.

Meanwhile, ZEC director voter education Rejoice Sibanda said the currently used mechanisms resorting to digital frameworks and technology are either not user friendly or available to women that are marginalised and most of them living in the rural areas.

Sibanda noted: “So in the near future we are going to see ZEC partnering with CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) targeting women that are marginalised in the rural areas educating them on the electoral processes, which include among others boundary delimitation and voter registration.”

-Zwnews