What are the reforms and will they be fully implemented? The Zimbabwe Youth Forum has provided an outline of the reforms while stating they will only be meaningful if they are fully adhered to.
Disclosure of ballot paper details
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is required to publicly disclose information about the total number of ballot papers printed for each election, where the ballot papers have been printed and how the ballot papers have been distributed to the different polling stations. This should make it easy for all actors to tally the numbers that will be officially released by ZEC with the figures they have.
The voters’ roll is a public document. Members of the public, including you, can inspect the voters’ roll free of charge at ZEC or the Constituency Registrar during normal working hours.
Access to the voters’ roll
This has always been the case and the Youth Forum would like to encourage the youth of Zimbabwe to utilize this opportunity to see whether their names still appear on the roll and if the details are correct.
From the current reforms, people will be able obtain electronic or printed copies of the roll for a reasonable fee. We hope the Registrar General’s offices will improve their version of ‘electronic’ copies, where they previously provided the electronic copy in the form of an image.
Presidential election and run-off
In a bid to avoid the embarrassment of the 2008 March Presidential election where the results were announced after more than 30 days of the election, ZEC is now mandated to announce Presidential election results within five days of polling. However, the Electoral Court can, for good cause, extend that period on application from ZEC.
A drafting error has resulted in an inconsistent record where one section says the run-off should be held within 21-63 days of the initial election and another gives the period as 28-42 days. ZEC has noted this and we hope they will rectify it in time for the next election.
Polling results made public
To foster transparency in terms of results, the new regulations now state that at each polling station the presiding officer must:
• post certified returns outside the station;
• provide each candidate or polling agent with a copy of return;
• provide every political party and candidate who contested an election with a polling station return sent to the constituency centre.
At the Constituency Centres, the constituency elections officer must:
• post a certified return of the collated results outside the constituency centre;
• provide each candidate or polling agent with a copy of that return
• provide every political party and candidate who contested the election with a copy of every polling station return sent to the constituency centre and the constituency return sent to the National Command Centre.
Reforms implemented
These measures require open disclosure of the results at every stage. This makes it almost impossible for results to be altered at a later stage.
Post published in: Analysis