Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) legal advisor Tawanda Kanengoni emphasized that it is up to lawmakers to amend the legislation if Zimbabweans in the diaspora are to vote in national elections.
Speaking at the ZEC National Multi-Stakeholder Post-Election Review Conference underway in Nyanga, Kanengoni explained that the country’s current legal framework does not permit a diaspora vote, a subject that has been at the center of four court cases, three of which reached the Constitutional Court.
He clarified that the electoral system is constituency-based, requiring voters to be physically present in their constituency on election day to cast their ballots.
Kanengoni said in their judgements the courts have acknowledged that extending the vote to the diaspora is a “noble” idea, but he stressed that ZEC is bound by the current legal framework. “If the law says ZEC must do it, ZEC will do it,” he said, adding that the law presently does not provide the necessary parameters for such a vote.
His remarks came in response to United Zimbabwe Alliance leader Elisabeth Valerio, who had what it would take for Zimbabweans abroad to participate in the country’s elections.
