ZEC printed 35 percent of the 6. 4 million ballot papers meant for the July 31 election, as contingency stock, bringing the total number of printed ballots to 8.7 million.
In its preliminary election statement issued at the media briefing, COMESA said the extra stock of ballot papers was significantly high. Only a 5 percent contingency ballot paper stock would be enough and meet international standards, said the observer mission.
Some political parties said the extra ballot papers were used by Zanu (PF) to rig elections. Media coverage of the electoral process by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation as the public broadcaster was described as unbalanced and in contravention of the Electoral Act.
Kiplagat said although the voting process was peaceful, there were some issues of concern which made the electoral process problematic and raised suspicion among stakeholders.
“Other stakeholders said the July 31 election date occasioned by a Constitutional Court ruling, whose appeal for deferment was unsuccessful, gave little time for election preparations,” said Kiplagat.
He noted with concern the restricted voter education period as a result of the rushed election. Late availability of the voters’ roll to political parties and interested parties was described as an issue of serious concern.
The voters’ roll was made available to political parties some three hours before voting day. “The mission is concerned that the voters’ roll was not made available in good time for inspection, in order to permit any further rectifications thereof before the polls, where necessary,” said Kiplagat.
Article 21 (3) of the Electoral Act provides that the voters’ roll be made available, either in electronic or hard copy form, “within a reasonable period of time, to any person who requests it.”
COMESA noted that it was difficult to thoroughly inspect such a roll availed in hard copy, two or less days before the polls. Huge numbers of people turned away due to various reasons gave COMESA cause for concern.
COMESA was told by some of the affected potential voters that their names were not appearing on the voters’ roll for the wards even though had voted in the same area in the past.
Recommendations were made for ZEC to do a post-mortem of the electoral process and take remedial measures in the interest of future polls.
It was also suggested that the period of inspection of the voters’ roll should be clearly specified and adequately provided for in the Electoral Act in order to avoid any misinterpretation.
ZEC was encouraged to limit the quantity of contingency ballot papers printed for a particular election to the recommended range of 5-10 percent, which is international best practice.
COMESA has commended Zimbabweans for voting in a peaceful manner and urged disgruntled political parties to approach the courts for redress.
Post published in: News
COMESA is thus far the only voice of reason compared to SADC and the AU.What a waste of time and public funds to keep a blind eye on day light robbery. They have now set a precedent in Africa that you can still an election provided it is done peacefully. Shame on you SADC and AU
May be the Zimbabweean problem has been too long for AU and SADC to continue handling ,they seem not interested anymore at all.They shouldn’t forget though that they created theGNU and as such are expected to see a fair and satisfactory transition without favour or fear.
It makes me feel ashamed of being African. When is enough not enough? Surely ballot paper control and the voter’s roll are the two critical elements of a credible election. You can’t look at peace as the only element to judge the legitimacy of an election.