CSOs, Faith Based Organisations, local and international observers, and members of the public. Two political parties namely the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance formally notified the public about the scheduling of primary elections for elective office. The Commission monitored these processes3 to ensure compliance by the political parties with the respective party regulations and generally accepted democratic standards and practices. It was important for the ZHRC to monitor the political parties’ primary elections given the importance of these processes to the national electoral process. ZHRC media monitoring reports had indicated a rise in internal conflicts in political parties revolving around the contest for leadership positions and nominations to contest elective positions. Therefore, during the period preceding the primaries, ZHRC engaged with and encouraged political party leaders to be guided by democratic principles and the need for maintenance of peace for both candidates and electors. In line with the monitoring mandate, provided for in Section 243 (1) (c) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, ZHRC deployed 23 teams throughout the country’s 10 Provinces. These teams used the abovementioned questionnaires and checklists to collect data. Owing to insufficient financial and human resources to cover the whole country, the Commission resorted to monitoring hotspots4 in different Provinces, as well as responding to election related complaints reported during the period. The teams which had been deployed around the country took part in the Multi Party Liaison Committee meetings chaired by ZEC in accordance with Section 12 of the Fourth Schedule to the Electoral Act. ZHRC showcased its work and mandate to the committee members, partook in dialogue amongst the political 3 See detailed reports for ZANU PF and MDC alliance primaries on ZHRC website www.zhrc.org.zw 4 Hotspot areas were identified as indicating occurrences of politically motivated violence. The identified hotspot areas were gathered from ZHRC media monitoring reports, cases reported through the Commission hotlines and stakeholder engagements with various parties who were assessing the electoral environment simultaneously as well as from previous elections. Page 14 of 55