Abstract

This essay is an inquest to voter registration process in a multiparty Tanzania. The main question that this essay attempts to answer is whether or not the introduction of permanent voter registers in Tanzania has resolved registration controversies. These registers were purposely created in order to address registration problems that were observed by elections stakeholders during the 1995 and 2000 general elections. Through a review of various elections observers’ reports on 2005 and 2010 general elections, we conclude that despite some improvements such as the establishment of a permanent voters’ database, voter registration in the country is still marred by numerous anomalies such as a denial of some eligible voters of their registration rights. Likewise, others who register find themselves being disqualified from voting on different grounds, as election observers’ reports have revealed. From this general observation, it is very fair to argue that Tanzania is yet to be an exception in the mishandling of voter registration, a plague that continues to smudge the image of elections in Africa.

Key words: Voter registers, election observers’ reports, registration, political parties, disenfranchisement.