Observers The Commission should decide on which observers to accredit and there should be no Ministerial veto power. The Electoral Commission must accredit sufficient numbers of local and international observers to allow comprehensive observation of elections. SADC should also request to send a special pre-election mission team to assess the preelection environment. Voter education Instead of placing emphasis on controlling the programmes of voter education conducted by civic organisations, the Electoral Commission should establish joint structures with civil society to plan and implement a shared voter education strategy. Only by full involvement of civic organisations will it be possible to run an effective voter education campaign. Civic organisations should be entitled to receive foreign funding for voter education programmes. Ballot papers The Commission should be required to disclose the total number of ballot papers printed for each election. Illiterate and physically handicapped voters Such voters should be allowed to be assisted by friends or relatives rather than electoral officials. Postal voting The Electoral Commission should be given the power to establish a system that allows Zimbabweans living outside the country to vote by post if they are unable to return to Zimbabwe to cast their votes. Media coverage of elections The maintenance of the de facto broadcasting monopoly of ZBH makes it imperative that this sole public broadcaster behave in a professionally impartial manner when covering elections. The Commission must draw up as soon as possible the regulations governing reporting by public broadcasters to ensure that it gives fair coverage of the election. It must have effective mechanisms to monitor observance of these regulations and to take effective measures to prevent continuing breaches. Before the next elections more broadcasters should be allowed to start to operate so that the public can receive a greater diversity of information and viewpoints. The Commission will also need to establish effective mechanisms to monitor the conduct of the print media and to take steps to prevent continuing breaches of its obligations to report fairly on the election. The ruling party controls the sole provider of daily national newspapers and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act has brought about a complete lack of diversity in the print media. These restrictions should be removed and other newspapers should be allowed to commence operations without delay. 2