“Some 8,000 voters have managed to vote since morning. An average of 40 people have been turned away in 25 polling stations in this constituency which has two wards 8 and 10,” revealed the Commanding Officer, who declined to be named.
A presiding officer at one of the polling stations at Sunningdale 1 Primary School only identified as Mangwiro said:
“A total of 484 voters have cast their vote by 3.30pm while only one was assisted and 38 turned away. A total of 311 of those who voted were male while only 173 were females.”
The presiding officer of Ward 10, 2A polling station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 303 people had voted while 34 had been turned away on various reasons.
“We opened at 7.10am and will close at 7,10pm. I got 1,400 ballot papers for presidential candidate and local authority while 1,200 were for the National Assembly,” said the presiding officer.
He said most of those turned away had brought wrong documents.
“We are not accepting drivers’ licences and expired passports while some have been coming to wrong wards,” said the presiding officer.
The Commanding Officer at Sunningdale command centre said:
“One resident who has been voting here (Sunningdale) since 2000 but her name was reflecting under Mutoko.We are cross-checking names using the electronic voter inspection but it is a bit of bureaucracy as the presiding officers first give me the national identity number of the person and I then give it to the electronic inspectors. Most of the people who have been turned away are mainly coming to wrong wards.”
A Zimbabwe Election Support Network observer identified as Portia said voting has generally gone well with rare incidents of violence or disturbances.
"So far so good, though some some people's names are missing in the voters roll while other people's names are reflecting in other wards than those in which they registered," she said.
Observers who passed through the polling stations from the SADC Parliamentary Forum wrote in the visitor's books that voting had generally been good.
Observers from the AU have rarely been seen here.
Post published in: News