reports has made it difficult, if not impossible, for interested parties to scrutinise the maps and boundaries. The result is there have been no serious formal challenges to the delimitation of electoral boundaries, despite the problems around it. However, while these weaknesses exist, there have not been any successful formal challenges to the delimitation exercise in the courts of law or any other channels3.  Lack of transparency and secrecy in the delimitation exercise. There has never been transparency in how delimitation is carried out, with allegations of too much control by the President and the executive over the authority charged with delimitation.  Some of the provisions of the Electoral Law are still outdated in light of the new Constitution. The delimitation process It is not necessary to go into the nitty-gritties of the delimitation process as described in the Constitution and the Electoral Law, except to point out that in terms of timing, ZEC is required to determine electoral boundaries after every 10 years. This is designed to fall as soon as possible after a population census has occurred, which is also done every ten years. This 10 year interval is an extension of the period as previously delimitation was required every 5 years. There is criticism that the 10 year-interval is too long given the migration patterns in the country and that this could result in distorted electoral boundaries. This is a legitimate criticism. Since elections are held every 5 years it seems better that delimitation is aligned with the timing of elections. However, this would require a constitutional amendment, but there is no appetite to amend the Constitution so soon after its adoption. Indeed, that would not the desirable. When should the next delimitation exercise take place? The core question in this paper is when, in light of the above, should the next delimitation exercise take place? It is submitted that for the credibility of the 2018 elections, the delimitation process must be carried out before that election. There is a view that the delimitation exercise should wait until 2023, that being 10 years after the new Constitution came into force. While there is some merit in that view, the costs of not having a delimitation exercise before the 2018 elections far outweigh the benefits of waiting for 2023. I will set out the case for and against both: exercise leading to loss of urban constituencies and rural provinces gaining more constituencies despite the high rate of rural-urban migration. 3 Following the 2013 election an MDC-T Candidate for Mount Pleasant, Jameson Timba tried to challenge the redrawing of the constituency. The Court stated that the evidence was inadequate, although one of the challenges that Timba faced was the problem of accessing election-related data which the courts also refused to sanction. 4|Page