MDC court bid over voters' roll Sunday Tribune (SA) Date posted:Sun 9-Mar-2008 Date published:Sun 9-Mar-2008
Back to previous page		The printed version of more than five million names makes checking identity numbers almost impossible Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has resorted to Harare's High Court to try to get an electronic version of the voters' roll for the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections so he can check that all voters are legitimate. The negotiations President Thabo Mbeki mediated between Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling Zanu PF produced amendments to the Electoral Act, enabling any interested party to buy an electronic version of the voters' roll. In previous elections the state only had to produce a printed version of more than five million names, which made checking identity numbers almost impossible. In papers submitted to the court on Friday, Tsvangirai's lawyer Bryant Elliott said the version handed to Tsvangirai's elections director, Ian Makone, consisted of photographs of the voters roll in a format that cannot be easily read or used. "The compact discs provided are materially deficient in various respects. Each of the pages of the voters' rolls has been printed and then photocopied, with the electronic photograph copied on to a compact disc. This copying has been done using a type of software called JPEG image format or TIFF image format. To attempt to print the entire voters' roll using this method is an insurmountable task involving far more manpower than is available, and also involving numerous printing machines working continuously. Inevitably, there will be breakdowns of the machines and this is, in fact, what has happened." Elliott said that during court applications over the last disputed presidential polls in 2002, the state was able to produce the voters roll on five compact discs in a matter of minutes. Every constituency has been changed for the March 29 elections, as the number of contested parliamentary seats has increased from 120 to 210. In addition, four elections are being held simultaneously for the first time, including local government elections. The election laws state that people will only be allowed to vote at the polling station situated in the ward to which they have been allocated. With the huge redrafting of constituencies and wards, many people still have no idea what ward they are in, said Makone. He has demanded that the electronic version be made available to him within 24 hours of the application being heard. He has also demanded that the roll be controlled by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and not left with Registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede, who is seen as fanatically loyal to Robert Mugabe. This rule is also contained in the amendment to the Electoral Act.