Fact Check: Yes, voting day is a public holiday - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
August 22, 2023
Claim: There has been chatter on social media on whether 23 August, 2023 is a public holiday or not.
Verdict: Yes, it is a public holiday
Section 38 of the Electoral Act says polling day or polling days shall be deemed to be a public holiday or public holidays, as the case may be, for the purposes of the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business [Chapter 10:21]
According to section 92 of the Electoral Act, every employer of a person who is entitled to vote in an election shall allow the employee leave of absence from his or her work for the whole of either the morning or the afternoon of the polling day…to afford the employee an opportunity to vote in the election.
Subsection 2 of 92 notes that an employee shall not be required to suffer any deduction from his wages or salary by reason of any leave of absence taken in order to vote.
Any employer who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level ten.
Electoral Act
FEATURED