Registration  patterns  after  the  resignation  of  Robert  Mugabe     There  was  speculation  among  civics  that  the  change  of  political  leadership  in  ZANU  PF  -­‐  and   therefore  in  Zimbabwe  -­‐  facilitated  by  military  intervention,  might  impact  negatively  on  people’s   inclination  to  register  for  elections:  a  message  had  been  sent  that  in  the  end,  it  was  the  army  and   not  the  will  of  the  people  that  was  able  to  get  Mugabe  out  of  the  presidency  after  37  years  of  unfair   elections.  What  then,  was  the  point  in  voting?       However,  this  concern  did  not  prove  to  be  the  case  in  the  first  instance  at  least.  During  the  three-­‐ week  period  between  the  beginning  of  the  coup  and  the  appointment  of  Cabinet  by  the  newly   inaugurated  President  Mnangagwa,  there  was  widespread  talk  among  the  opposition  in  Zimbabwe   of  some  kind  of  transitional  authority  coming  into  effect  that  would  include  the  political  opposition   in  Cabinet  positions.  It  was  perceived  this  would  be  necessary  for  Mnangagwa  to  claim  national  and   international  legitimacy.  However,  when  Cabinet  was  announced  on  1  December,  it  was  entirely  a   ZANU  PF  affair,  inclusive  of  several  army  generals  who  had  facilitated  Mnangagwa’s  rise  to  power.   But  during  the  time  of  the  talk  of  an  inclusive  government,  there  was  a  surge  of  voter  registrations   reported  in  Bulawayo.  One  ZEC  official  at  a  central  location  in  Bulawayo  informed  us  that   registrations  surged  from  a  few  a  day,  to  over  100  a  day  at  his  site.  It  appeared  that  Mugabe  finally   leaving  power  had  created  a  sense  of  change  and  a  sense  that  perhaps  further  change  could  also  be   possible.  People  seemed  more  motivated  to  take  part  in  any  future  voting  processes.       The  figures  for  BVR  at  the  end  of  the  3rd  phase  of  the  Blitz,  which  coincidentally  was  on  the  day   after  Mnangagwa  announced  his  Cabinet,  are  shown  in  Graph  4.       Graph  4     BVR  Numbers:   1  December   2017   (ZEC) 600000 552546 500000 452852 399901 400000 358098 471719 431113 364649 300000 204880 200000 141488 155331 100000 0     30