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Zimbabwe: Postal Voting And the Need for Transparecy

9 March 2008

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opinion

The issue of whether to allow residents outside the country to use the postal voting facility has been raging on since government decided, in 2005, to restrict the use of the postal voting system to government officials and their spouses outside the country on official government business.

The arguments for the exclusion of others have been as variegated as they might be partisan. What has not been thoroughly scrutinised is the process through which current users of the postal voting system cast their votes, both within and without the country.

While government has argued against the extension of the postal voting facility to every Zimbabwean in the Diaspora on grounds its officials cannot access this section of the electorate due to travel bans imposed upon most of them by the West, the opposition has repeatedly pointed out the need for the electorate in the Diaspora to participate in elections since most of them are outside the country not by choice, but as a result of socio, economic and political reasons beyond their control.

Sadly, very few arguments have been proffered to enable voters inside the country, who for one reason or the other might not be in their voting wards, to use the postal facility or how this postal facility could be monitored to avert electoral fraud. Discourse has mainly centred on the Diaspora vote.

Issues like the economic role that the people in the Diaspora play through such programmes as the Homelink and the universality of suffrage have been cited to justify the need for efforts to ensure this economically active section of the polity partakes in the politics of their country. The need for postal voting facilities, however, does not start and end with citizens in the Diaspora, but includes citizen in the country who by reason such as infirmity, pregnancy or calls of duty, might not be in their voting areas on Election Day.

There is therefore need to put mechanisms, legal and structural, to facilitate that these people exercise their right to vote where possible. However, this is not without problems hence the need to ensure the pressing obligation of protecting their inalienable voting rights does not compromise the quality of the electoral process and consequently its credibility.

The importance of postal voting is premised on the universality of the right to vote, that is, despite being enshrined in Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is unfortunately not included in our Constitution, although the sentiments of 21(3) are in our Electoral Act Chapter 2:13 section 3 subsections (a) and (b).

The Electoral Act borrows from Article 21(1) which stipulates that, "Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely-chosen representatives" and that "(3) the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

Governments, for this reason, derive their authority and legitimacy from the universality of suffrage in their areas of jurisdiction and any compromise on this affects their credibility. Consequently, the issue of enabling people in the Diaspora to vote does not only enhance popular participation of citizens in the elections, but significantly gives credence to the subsequent government's authority and legitimacy. The same applies to allowing all people inside the country, who cannot be at their nearest polling station, to use the postal facility to cast their ballots.

This said, there is genuine need for the powers that be, to review the situation of postal voting in time for the forthcoming harmonised presidential, parliamentary, senatorial and local government elections so that all those who are eligible to vote, but might not be in their voting areas on election day, can participate in the elections. This is more important with the advent of the ward-based voters' roll that outlaws voting outside one's ward. There is, however, need, particularly now, to review the postal voting facility and make recommendations for its extensive use among a whole cross-section of our polity.

The postal voting system is currently available to government officials who are outside their voting districts on Election Day and their spouses. This applies to those outside the country and those members of the uniformed forces who will be outside their voting areas on official government business but not necessarily outside the country.

The police and armed forces have currently been using this facility and concerns have been raised as to the credibility and transparency of the voting process where this facility has been used by the said government departments.

Investigations have yielded that despite its extensive use among the said professionals, this internal postal voting exercise has not been supervised by party agents, contestants or their proxies. Neither has the voting exercise been subjected to observation by both local and international observers.

Furthermore, the secrecy of the vote of the postal facility user is allegedly compromised in the uniformed forces as superiors are often tasked to supervise the voting process that involves their subordinates.

Concerns have also been raised on the security of the ballots cast as this voting process is often conducted a month before the official polling day and no political party representative or candidates' agents take part in guarding the ballot boxes. Consequently, it is difficult for political parties to ascertain the number of ballots cast by members of the uniformed forces. It is also not possible for candidates to verify the authenticity of the ballots or the transparency of the voting system.

The date on which the postal voting begins and ends should be made public and the voting procedures clearly outlined to all would-be users. All the votes should be counted at the centre where they are received and these should be made public for purposes of accountability when the ballots are eventually mixed with those from the normal polling process.

So while people argue for the extension of the postal voting facility to every interested citizen within or without the country, it is equally important to subject the current postal voting facility to scrutiny and where possible, if there is no guarantee to its universality and transparency, argue for its total eradication till mechanisms are put in place.

It should however be noted that, where the postal voting facility is employed with the genuine desire for universal participation in elections, it has enabled people who would not be resident in their voting areas on election day to exercise their inalienable right to vote. It has also ensured that those who are resident in the country but for reasons such as illness, infirmity, pregnancy or call of duty, are not able to access voting facilities at their nearest polling station, participate in the election through the post. In some countries, the postal facility is available to all citizens who, by whatever reason, might be more than eight kilometres away from their nearest voting station on Election Day.

It is therefore, ZESN's genuine concern and utmost conviction that the use of the postal voting facility can go a long way in ensuring universal suffrage, which is a democratic tenet. But due to the complexities and proneness to abuse that the facility can be subjected to, there is need for caution in its application until such a time measures are in place to ensure its transparency and credibility. There is need for openness in terms of the numbers involved and how they are distributed beforehand. There is an urgent need for the participation of political parties, international and local observers where voting through the system is taking place and the security for ballots cast postally should always be available.

Article produced by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN).

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