Tomorrow marks the end of the voter registration blitz and mop-up exercise, the first milestone towards holding elections this year.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has not registered as many people as it had hoped to, but the figures they have achieved have been remarkable and, no doubt, without the circus involving so-called aliens, more people could have been registered to vote.
It is important to point out that this is only the end of the blitz and mop-up exercise, but registration will continue at district offices, so that those who failed to register can continue to do so.
There is a tendency for Zimbabweans to wait until the last minute to register to vote and the deluge of prospective voters could cause delays and ultimately frustration for those that visit voter registration centres on the last day.
There has been ample time for people to register and there is no need for massive numbers to turn out for registration either today or tomorrow.
What Zec needs to explain is people can still register to vote at district offices for up to 12 days after the sitting of the nomination courts.
This will help prevent a flood of prospective voters that has been synonymous with the last day of voter registration in previous elections.
Failure to spread this message adequately by Zec could see the electoral management body failing to deal with an overwhelming number of people, who would want to register on the last day.
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Zec’s messaging has to be clear and concise that there is still adequate time for those that fail to register to vote, but this should be done in a manner that avoids confusion from prospective voters.
This is a critical election and the electoral body must ensure that as many people as possible are registered to vote and are aware of the requirements needed for this very important exercise.
The message should be that no one must be left out, even if there are some that feel that the results of the next polls are a foregone conclusion.
Thus, Zec has its work cut out for it, to go all out with publicity campaigns, advising those that fail to register that they still have time to do so.
While, ideally, it would have been best for everyone to register during the blitz and mop-up exercise, it is important to remind those that have not, that they still have time to register as voters.
