The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi
Political Editor
IN 2016, former Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru made a sweeping statement in response to claims that Zimbabwe’s electoral processes can be manipulated.
Speaking to a United Kingdom-based newspaper, The Sunday Times, she revealed that she was unaware of any election rigging, during her time as Vice President of the country and Second Secretary of ZANU PF from 2004 to 2014.
At that time, Dr Mujuru had been unceremoniously fired from ZANU PF and was now part of the opposition. Many assumed she would take the opportunity to slate the ruling party and expose “clandestine rigging shenanigans” that only someone who held a high-level position in the party could be privy to. They were, however, made to eat humble pie.
In the past two harmonised elections, held in 2018 and 2023, main opposition candidate Mr Nelson Chamisa has been resoundingly beaten but claims the polls were rigged. He has, on both occasions, however, struggled to present irrefutable evidence of the alleged rigging.
President Mnangagwa had 50,8 percent of the votes, against Mr Chamisa’s 44,3 percent, in 2018, while this year, the incumbent increased his margin of victory to 52,8 percent, against his rival’s 44 percent.
In the aftermath of the 2023 harmonised elections, Mr Chamisa and his Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party have stuck to their old trick by claiming they did not lose the August 23 elections freely and fairly.
Below we look at the systems in place to guarantee free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Biometric voter registration system
The biometric voter registration (BVR) system uses fingerprints to identify voters, which helps to prevent voter fraud. It was first introduced for the 2018 harmonised elections. This was done to improve the accuracy of the voter registers and provide the foundation for clean, violence-free, fair and credible elections.
It was also introduced to replace the old manual voter registration system that was marred by accusations of flaws. The BVR system was, therefore, able to assist in the production of a clean, credible and reliable voters’ register, which is at the heart of conducting a fair and credible election.
Ballot paper security
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is responsible for the handling of ballot papers and has a number of procedures in place to ensure the papers are secure.
In this year’s elections, ZEC printed 7 126 600 ballot papers, against a voting population of 6 623 511 for the presidential vote.
A total of 7 098 750 ballot papers were printed for the National Assembly vote, while 6 854 259 were set for local authority polls.
What is important to note is that, to guarantee security of the vote, ballot papers are numbered, sealed in tamper-proof envelopes and transported to polling stations under security.
They are also stored in a secure location at polling stations. Also, ballot papers are only opened and counted in the presence of polling agents from various political parties.
Polling agents
The role of election agents in Zimbabwe is to oversee the electoral process and ensure that it is conducted fairly and impartially. Election agents are appointed by political parties or independent candidates, and they have the right to observe all aspects of the election process, from voter registration to the counting of votes.
In this year’s harmonised elections, there were 12 374 polling stations, which means political parties were free to deploy polling agents to each of these centres.
Since election agents are entitled to be present at the centres and to observe the polling process, it is difficult to dispute any results from the polling station.
They are entitled to be present when counting of votes takes place to ensure the counting is accurate and that there is no fraud or irregularities.
Prior to the elections, Mr Chamisa promised to “deploy polling agents to all polling stations in the country”.
Election agents are the eyes and ears of the political parties and independent candidates.
If election agents witnessed any irregularities or problems, they were free to report them to ZEC or the courts.
V11 forms
The V11 forms are the official polling station returns used in Zimbabwe’s elections. They are filled by the presiding officer at each polling station after votes have been counted. The forms record the number of votes cast for each candidate and the number of spoilt ballots.
Copies of the V11 forms are given to the polling agents of each political party, as well as ZEC.
After voting in this year’s elections, ZEC said V11 forms were displayed outside all of the 12 374 polling stations for the public, election agents and observers to see.
The V11 forms are an important part of the electoral process in Zimbabwe, as they provide a way of verifying results of the election and ensure votes have been counted accurately.
Key information recorded on V11 forms includes name of the polling station, date of election, number of registered voters at the polling station, number of ballots cast,
number of spoilt ballots, number of votes cast for each candidate, and signatures of the presiding officer, the polling agents and the ZEC official.
Also, V11 forms are kept by ZEC for up to five years after the election. They can be used to investigate allegations of electoral fraud or to recount votes if necessary.
V23 forms
The V23 form is used to collate results of the elections from polling stations and to transmit them to the national command centre. The form is signed by the presiding officer of the polling station and by the polling agents of the contesting political parties.
The V23 form contains the number of registered voters at the polling station, number of votes cast for each candidate, number of spoilt ballots and the total number of votes cast.
The V23 forms are collected from the polling stations by the returning officers and are then transmitted to the national command centre. The results of the elections are announced based on the information contained in the V23 forms.
These are an important safeguard against electoral fraud. By requiring the signatures of the presiding officer and the polling agents, the forms ensure that the results of the polls are accurate and cannot be tampered with.
Electoral courts
The Electoral Court is responsible for hearing challenges to poll results. The Electoral Court is defined as a court of record with exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals, applications and petitions, and to review any decision by ZEC or any other person made or purporting to have been made under that legal provision.
It has powers to give such judgments, orders and directions in those matters as might be given by the High Court. The designation of the magistrates was to try cases of politically motivated violence and intimidation in the provinces under which their names appear before, during and after the harmonised elections. In June this year, the Judicial Service Commission appointed 35 High Court judges and 76 magistrates in all 10 provinces to arbitrate in electoral disputes and ensure rapid trial for political violence until December, in terms of the country’s electoral laws.
