Tsholotsho,  while  other  civic  observers  reported  this  widely  from  Manicaland  and  the  Mashonaland   provinces.74  It  was  noted  by  the  opposition  as  early  as  March  2017  that  the  BVR  process  was  being   wrongly  portrayed  by  ZANU  PF  as  a  way  of  ensuring  the  vote  was  not  anonymous.75     Collection  of  barcodes  from  registered  voting  slips       It  was  widely  reported,  almost  immediately  that  BVR  began,  that  rural  voters  were  being  forced  to   hand  over  their  registration  slips  so  that  their  barcodes  could  be  recorded  on  a  list  by  the  local   headman  or  ZANU  PF  official,  to  further  create  the  impression  that  voting  would  not  be  anonymous   this  time  around.76  This  was  often  accompanied  by  threats,  both  vague  and  specific,  against  anyone   who  voted  for  the  opposition  in  2018.  ZESN  first  strongly  reported  this  abuse  of  registered  voting   slips  in  their  BVR  Update  No.6,  on  20  October,  2017.77  They  continued  to  report  this  abuse  in  every   subsequent  weekly  update  report,  and  there  were  multiple  reports  of  this  abuse  in  the  media.   Strangely,  for  three  months  the  only  reaction  of  the  police  was  to  arrest  one  MDC  official  in   Mashonaland  East  who  ‘stole’  an  exercise  book  from  a  ZANU  PF  official  who  had  been  intimidating   people  by  writing  down  their  bar  codes  in  this  book!78       There  was  also  a  report  in  November  in  Matabeleland  that  Junior  police  officers  were    forced  to   hand  over  registration  slips  to  seniors:  this  was  deplored  by  the  opposition,  who  saw  it  as  very   intimidatory.79     On  25  January,  ZEC  issued  a  statement  warning  against  abuse  of  voter  registration  slips,  stating   that:   The  offences  border  on  voter  intimidation,  impersonation  of  ZEC  officials  and  trespassing   should  the  person  enter  your  premises  and  are  in  violation  of  the  Electoral  Act  and  Section   156  (c)  of  the  constitution  among  other  things…  The  voter  registration  slips  remain  the   property  of  ZEC  and  no  one  has  the  right  to  demand  them  or  part  of  them.80        On  26  January  2018,  the  Zimbabwe  Republic  Police  (ZRP)  stated  that  it  was  a  “criminal  offence  for   any  citizen  to  coerce  another  citizen  and  take  down/record  their  Voter  Registration  Serial  Numbers   (from  BVR  slips),  and  Voter  registration  details.”  All  citizens  were  urged  to  report  any  such  abuse  to   their  nearest  police  station,  stating  that  the  “long  arm  of  the  law  will  not  spare  anyone”.81       While  these  statements  are  commendable,  considering  that  the  abuse  of  voter  registration  slips   was  flagged  by  official  observers  of  the  process  on  20  October  2017,  the  question  must  be  asked   why  it  took  both  ZEC  and  the  ZRP  three  full  months,  or  almost  the  entire  BVR  time  period,  to  issue   statements  strongly  condemning  this  behavior.                                                                                                                 74  Transparency  International  Zimbabwe:  “BVR  should  improve  electoral  integrity”,  NewsDay,  25  October   2017.     75  https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2017/03/01/zanu-­‐pf-­‐already-­‐rigging-­‐2018-­‐poll-­‐tsvangirai   76  Ibid.  also  Kunambura,  Andrew:  “BVR  abuse  concerns  escalate”,  Daily  News,  4  November  2017.   77  http://www.zesn.org.zw/wp-­‐content/uploads/2017/11/BVR-­‐UPDATE-­‐NUMBER-­‐6.pdf.     78 79  https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/11/mdc-­‐t-­‐official-­‐bvr-­‐register-­‐theft/.      Ndlovu,  Nqobani:  “Junior  cops  forced  to  surrender  registration  slips  to  bosses”,  NewsDay,  13  November   2017.     80  ZEC  Press  Release  24/01/2018.     81  ZRP:  Public  Notice:  BVR  Slips,  26  January  2018.       22