On the 11th of November the ZEC issued a letter refusing to avail the voters roll . This was a after Project Vote 263 wrote a letter requesting for an "electronic voters roll" . As per Section62(1) of the constitution of Zimbabwe,  which states that  "every Zimbabwean citizen or permanent resident including juristic persons and the Zimbabwean media has the right to access information held by the state or by any institution or agency of government at every level, in so far as the information is required in the interest of public accountability" and Section 21(3) of the electoral act which states that "the commission shall, within reasonable period of time provide any person who request it (voters roll) and who pays the prescribed fee with a copy of any voters roll, including a consolidated voters roll referred to in Section20(4a), either in printed or electronic format as the person may request".

The Zimbabwe Electoral commission, in their response dated 11th of November of 2022 responded to Project vote 263 declining to give Pv263 the electronic voters roll, stating that "currently the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is only in a position to furnish Pv263 with a hard copy upon paying the prescribe fee as stated in SI 145 of 2022 ($USD187 000)" This is a clear violation of the above mentioned in (paragraph 1) sections of both the constitution and the electoral act. 

Having access to the voters roll allows Pv263  and other interested parties  to audit the voters roll that is being used on the currently on-going delimitation processes. 

The refusal by ZEC to issue the electronic roll makes the entire processes not transparent and giving room for political gerrymandering as we approach the crucial 2023 harmonized elections. This defeats the principles of both electoral processes and delimitation set out in sections 155, 160 and 161 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.

This petition  calls upon the Zimbabwean citizens and citizens of the world at large, SADC, AU, UN, FCO, EU Parliament and  others  across the world concerned about democracy and elections  to join Pv263 to demand ZEC to urgently release the  "electronic voters roll". 

For Zimbabwe to hold a free and fair elections it is crucial that an electronic version of the voter’s roll is released urgently.