· To insulate the voter register and enhance its integrity, ZEC must speed up biometric voter registration under public scrutiny and oversight. This system will insulate against multiple voting – de-duplication, voter impersonation-adjudication and ballot stuffing. The procurement, development, testing and certification of the equipment should be carried out transparently, so stakeholders are confident the equipment cannot be manipulated and cannot be tampered with to favor one political party. ZEC must ensure proper custody and maintenance of the voters roll and registers so that no one can tamper with the voters roll. This will protect against unauthorized access, alteration and disclosure. · To improve transparency, accountability and strengthen the chain of custody, the legislature must make it clear in the law that ZEC cannot deny a candidate, election agents or observers the right to gain access and inspect the voting material after the election whether for judiciary and or non-judiciary purposes. The law must be explicit that all polling material, ballot papers, hardware, software, transmission facilities and storage centers shall be open to interested parties to verify the results after the poll without time limits. In other words, the destruction of election materials as stipulated in Section 70 of the electoral act must be outlawed. · To improve transparency, accuracy and public confidence in the election results announced, the legislature must amend the law to make it unequivocally clear that candidates, agents and observers should be present during the vertical transmission of returns from polling station, ward, constituency, provincial to national command center. ZEC must in practice also timely announce the results of the poll as counted and verified without undue influence and not stand in the way of the winner to assume power in line with Constitutional obligations. Enhancing Transparency in Zimbabwe's Electoral Processes: Voter Registration, Voting and Results Management info@zesn.net zesn2011@zesn.net www.zesn.org.zw

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