By Xinhua,
Harare : The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has said only those who registered for the March 29 harmonized presidential, parliamentary and council elections will be allowed to vote in next month’s presidential election run-off.
ZEC Chairman Justice George Chiweshe said ZEC would use the voters’ roll which was compiled for the previous poll. He advised prospective voters to cast their ballots in their respective wards, according to The Sunday Mail.
“The election is going to be ward-based. This is a continuation of the previous election; hence the voters’ roll will be the same. You have to be on the roll in your ward in order for you to vote,” said Justice Chiweshe.
On Friday, ZEC announced that the presidential run-off would beheld on June 27. The poll was due to be held within 21 days of the declaration of the presidential election result early this month, but had to be pushed back to allow ZEC ample time to prepare, according to the report.
No candidate garnered more than 50 percent of the total vote in the initial election to ensure an outright victory as required by law, according to the ZEC. President Robert Mugabe received 43.2 percent and opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai got 47.9 percent.
Independent candidates Simba Makoni and Langton Towungana got 8.3 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. The election outcome paved the way for a run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who emerged the two highest-scoring candidates.
Justice Chiweshe said the run-off would be held alongside House of Assembly by-elections in Gwanda South, Pelandaba-Mpopoma and Redcliff, where a nominated candidate in each of the constituencies died before polling day.
He said that ZEC had begun preparing for the polls, as it had received Treasury funds early last week. Although he would not state the figure, he said the money would be channelled towards the setting up of polling stations, staff allowances and the purchase of polling material.
“We start with the physical materials, among them ballot papers, the voters’ roll and stationery. The last stages include the setting up of polling stations and personnel deployment,” he said. “The financial resources have been made available so we are able to proceed with the poll preparations.”