*265# not working? Try this WhatsApp bot and check your polling station, registration details

The day is upon us. It is election day tomorrow, and we get to exercise our most important democratic right: the right to vote.

So put down your phones and step away from your computers. Get out into the real world and cast your vote. Okay, don’t put your phones down, take them with you to your polling station.

We don’t care who you vote for, as long as you fulfil the obligation you have to the Republic of Zimbabwe. You can’t complain about poor service delivery when you can’t even deliver what’s expected from you once every 5 years.

Reminder on how to check your polling station:

*265#

You don’t need to have a data bundle or airtime to use this option. You just go to the phone app on your phone, type in *265# and dial.

It will say ‘Welcome to ZEC Voter Registration Inspection. Choose option 1 and press ‘enter’.

You will be asked to input your Surname, do that and press ‘enter’.

Then you will be asked to input your ID Number, do that and press ‘enter’ and it will spew out your full name, polling station, ward, local authority and constituency.

Do not fret if you got an error message. *265# can be iffy at times.

WhatsApp

You will obviously need to have a data bundle on your phone for this option. If you do, this is how you can check your registration details on WhatsApp.

Do note that the option we have was developed by CCC supporters and it will give you details of CCC candidates in your area. If you are not interested in that, you can ignore that part.

With that out of the way, simply send ‘Hello’ to +13057910002 and proceed from there. You could save the number to your contacts and then send the ‘Hello’ or simply tap on the ‘New Chat’ option, type in the number and an option to chat with the number will appear. Click on that.

Do note that you will be interacting with a bot and so you have to type in ‘Hello’ not ‘Hallo’ or some other greeting. Alternatively, you could type in ‘Mhoro’ or ‘Sabona’.

The bot will then greet you and provide you with two options: check your polling station or send coordinates. Tap on ‘My polling station’.

You will be asked to reply with your Surname, Date of Birth and Last 6 digits of your ID number in the prescribed format. Don’t worry, they give you an example of what it’s supposed to look like.

When you send that information through, you will get back your registration details; your polling station, ward, local authority and constituency.

According to Freeman Chari, this WhatsApp bot was used by over 166,000 people in a 5-day stretch ending on 19 August.

The extra CCC stuff

CCC has a problem, they are double-booked in some areas. As a result, some voters may see two CCC candidates for MP or Councillor when they open the ballot.

This would lead to a splitting of the CCC vote. So, CCC wants to let its supporters know which candidates they should vote for in the event that they see multiple CCC candidates for the same position.

It is a novel way to use WhatsApp to try and deal with the problem. These are the tools people have and so organisations should always meet people where they congregate.

SMS is not as interactive but USSD could have been a good option.

The ruling ZANU-PF party used text messages to inform voters about its candidates. This was a positive step, as it helped to raise awareness of the election and the party’s platform.

However, the party sent unsolicited messages to voters, even those who were members of the opposition CCC party. This wasn’t the first time they violated voters’ privacy and misused personal data.

Also read:

Zanu PF at it again, sending unsolicited messages to voters. Where do they get our numbers?

Social media exaggerates and so should be regulated, says ZEC. No election rigging in most cases.

A new system that will verify election results in real-time to be legally deployed by CCC