Many people are still confused about the voting process on Saturday. Here are a few points to note.
NB You can only vote in your WARD now, so find out which ward you live in! You will not be able to find your name on the voters roll in any other ward than the one you are registered in. In my constituency, Mt Pleasant, here are the wards:
Ward 17 is Mt Pleasant (incl Heights), Northwood, Vainona, around Sam Levy to Borrowdale Lane, Borrowdale West, Dandaro, Groombridge and UZ-Little Norfolk.
Ward 7 is Alexandra Park, Gunhill, Tomlinson-KG6, Belgravia, Avondale, Avondale West and part of Strathaven.
4 Ballot Papers
You will be given 4 ballot papers of different colours. Each ballot paper will list all the candidates for that position: so the WHITE ballot paper is for the PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, not sure which are the other colours but one is for the SENATORIAL CANDIDATE, one for the HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY CANDIDATE and one for the COUNCIL CANDIDATE.
While I encourage you to vote for the candidates I support, you are perfectly free to pick and choose among the different candidates for each level. So you can vote for A... for President, B...for Senator, C...for House of Assembly and D... for Council, all the parties mixed up and some candidates independent, if you so wish. As I said a few weeks ago, this election is more about INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES than parties - WHO you think will best represent you, rather than WHAT PARTY they stand for.
You will be given all the papers at the same time, as far as I understand, and each ballot paper must then be put into the correct ballot box. The ballot boxes are translucent, not transparent, so you cannot see what is written on the papers, but you can see the level of the ballot papers in the box.
Voting begins at 7 am and ends at 7 pm. Anyone in the queue at 7pm is allowed to vote, and if they try to send you away, insist on your right to vote, as you are in the queue. If you have a problem with this, call helplines which are being set up now.
ZLHR helplines are 011 619 746, 011 635 451, 011 635 448 0912 789 951 or landlines 251468 and 708118.
ZESN is Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), 10 Rochester Crescent
Belgravia, Harare
ZEC Harare Province is 4th floor, Cecil House, J. Moyo between 3rd & 4th streets tel 701794
If there is a big problem eg huge queues and slow voting process, they will have to extend closing time or even have a second day of voting - this will be decided as and when.
Take your ID or valid Zim passport – NOT driving licence. If you changed your registration recently or have a citizenship issue, take appropriate proof, also, to save an extra journey.
Please help others.
COUNTING
According to ZEC, counting of ALL ballot papers will initially be done at each polling station, and the results for ALL FOUR Positions INCLUDING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION for that polling station will be POSTED OUTSIDE THE POLLING STATION. They will then be sent to Ward, Constituency, Senatorial and National Command Centres in that order, and at each stage results will be POSTED OUTSIDE THE COMMAND CENTRES AT VARIOUS LEVELS and the results announced at that command centre.
POLLING STATIONS - MT PLEASANT CONSTITUENCY
Ward 7 Avondale- Alexandra Park
Avondale Primary A, B & C
Alexandra Park Pr A & B
Belgravia Sports Club A & B
Hellenic School A & B
Strathaven Shopping Centre Tent
?? Hillier/Churchill Tent or Hartmann Hs
Ward 17 - Mt Pleasant
Groombridge Primary A & B
Mt Pleasant Heights Tent
Mt Pleasant High A & B
North Park Pr A & B
Vainona Pr A & B
Vainona High A & B
We can WIN these elections if we ALL exercise our right to vote. Your VOTE is your SECRET! LET'S VOTE THIS LOT OUT!!