LOCAL think-tank the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has raised fears that the forthcoming elections might produce a disputed result as the voters’ roll was still shambolic with 78 constituencies said to have more registered voters than the official population figures for those particular areas.
REPORT BY VENERANDA LANGA
In a report released on July 2, RAU observed that, besides carrying more than one million dead people and leaving out nearly two million others aged 30 years and below, the voters’ roll contains serious numerical variances that could be used to manipulate election results.
“In 78 of Zimbabwe’s 210 constituencies, the number of registered voters exceeds the total population there,” the report states.
RAU said the most affected age groups were the 40 to 44-year-olds by 162% and the 80-year plus age group by 219%. For instance, the 2012 census population figure for the adult population of 80 years and above was recorded as 155 586 and yet the 2013 voters’ roll indicates that 341 003 people in that age group were registered voters, a difference of 185 317.
The report also indicates that those in the 40 to 44-year age group were numbering about 467 057 while the voters’ roll claims that 769 189 people in that category were registered voters, giving another numerical variance of minus 292 132.
