ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau shared these sentiments in Harare today during a meeting between the commission and civil society organisations.
Makarau revealed that ZEC had received over 69,000 applications for special votes from the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Special voting is going to be held on July 14 and 15 ahead of the general vote on July 31.
These figures have alerted political parties and civil society organisations to the possibility of rigging since the police force’s members are less than the given figures.
Special voting is done at least 16 days before the election day in order to give an opportunity to people who will be on duty during the polls to vote.
It caters for members of the uniformed forces and election officials. It is done concurrently with postal voting which caters for people outside the country on Government business.
“We are taking it in good faith. They have told us that they will be enlisting police reserves and police constabularies to beef up their operations. Maybe that is where the figures are coming from,” Makarau said.
She called on all accredited observers and members of the public to alert the commission if they see people who are not part of the uniformed forces casting votes on the special voting days.
“If you think that this is an inflated number please give us the evidence so that we can act.
“I don’t know why legislators opted to call it special voting. There is nothing special about the special voting. It’s just early voting,” she said.
Makarau said polling stations for July 14 and 15 will not be in police stations or army barracks but in places that are accessible to members of the public.
According to ZEC there were 140 applications from the Zimbabwe National Army, 15,000 from ZEC and 2,000 from the Zimbabwe Prison Service.
Post published in: News