Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), a coalition of human rights defenders, said according to the electoral act, the only results that should be verified and collated at the National Collation Centre were those for the presidential election.By law, in terms of the Electoral Act as amended, winning candidates for the House of Assembly and the Senate are collated and declared at the House of Assembly collation centres (constituency centres) and the senatorial collation centres respectively.
The only results which are verified and collated at the National Collation Centre are those for the presidential election. These are then announced by the Chief Elections Officer, said the ZLHR in a statement on Wednesday.ZLHR said the announcement of Senate and House of Assembly results at the Command Centre against the electoral act heightened fears that the results of Saturday’s elections were exposed to tampering.ZEC’s conduct – that of engaging in the unnecessary process of announcing winning candidates for the House of Assembly and the Senate and dragging the process on – implies complicity in such attempts, added the ZLRH.No comment could be obtained from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission over the alleged abnormalities in the announcement of Saturday’s election results.
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