A SHADOWY group which claims to be working in partnership with another group calling itself Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IdaZim) has created an online platform where people were able to check if their names appear on the voters’ roll.

Report by Phillip Chidavaenzi

The data is found on their website www.myzimvote.com where one simply logs in their national identity number and instantly receives information, including their full names, ID, their Ward number and constituency where they were registered to vote if they voted in previous elections.

The normal procedure prevailing if one wanted to check for the same information was to personally visit voter registration centres where one was expected to produce their identity particulars before the information could be checked for them by officials from the Registrar-General’s (RG) Office.

Zimbabweans seeking this service have been complaining about enduring long queues and spending a lot of time at the registration centres just to have this information checked for them. Zec chairperson Justice Rita Makarau yesterday said the commission was aware of the website and was carrying out investigations to establish who was responsible for it.

A screenshot of the part of the website with instructions on how to enter an ID number to check the voters’ roll

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“We are aware that there is a website that publishes the voters’ roll and we are in the process of carrying out investigations to find out who is behind it and whether they have registered with Zec,” Makarau said.

Owners of the website said: “We are a free and fair organisation dedicated to providing clear, simple and accurate voter registration information based on the new constitution, adopted on 22 May 2013.”

They, however, refer all other electoral matters to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).

If a person was registered and they logged into the site using their national identity number, the page acknowledges the registration and if one was not registered, it returns the message: “No records were found with the ID number you have entered. Are you sure you entered the ID number in the correct format? If not, try again using the form below.” The website provides another link to a page where, if one was registered as a voter on or before May 27 this year, they could easily report the anomaly.

The website also referred all those who need to update their information to do so at the RG’s Office or at any one of the mobile registration centres.

“It (this) cannot be done online. MyZimVote cannot change or update your information. The information is useful in informing relevant public authorities such as the Registrar-General’s Office and Zec on the areas that need to be improved to increase public confidence on the voters and electoral process. Our main objective is to ensure that there is a free and fair election in Zimbabwe,” the group said. The site also provides information on voter fraud, violence and intimidation.