High Court Orders ZEC To Register “Aliens” As Prospective Voters For The 2018 Elections

High Court judge Justice Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa has ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to register the so-called “aliens” as prospective voters for the 2018 harmonised elections via the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise. Her ruling means that any person born in Zimbabwe with at least one parent born in Zimbabwe and with a national identification card which says “alien” can register to vote. This also applies to any person whose parents are from a SADC country, who was born in Zimbabwe, who was resident when the new Constitution came in force in 2013, and who has the Alien status on their national identification cards.

This means that in order to register to vote, the “aliens” need to bring the following documents:

• Identity Documents endorsed alien
• Birth Certificate.
• Proof of residence

This comes after Harare resident Sarah Kachingwe and the two opposition parties the MDC-T and the MDC-N, filed an application seeking an order allowing individuals classified as “aliens” to register to vote in the 2018 general elections without any impediment or additional requirement other than requirements relating to all people.

Kachingwe, who is a Zimbabwean citizen by birth and whose identification card is endorsed “alien” because her deceased father was from Malawi while her mother is a Zimbabwean by birth, argued that she was not allowed by some ZEC officials to register as a prospective voter because her identification card was endorsed “alien” and was referred to the Registrar General (RG)s Office for “regularisation” of her identification card.

Constitutonal law expert Alex Magaisa said:

Section 43(2) of the Constitution clearly states that persons born in Zimbabwe to a parent/s from a SADC country are citizens of Zimbabwe by birth. They are NOT aliens & if they were classified as such that classification became null and void in 2013.