On the Election Day, the majority of the ZESN general observation observers were permitted to observe at their respective polling stations. The observers arrived at the polling stations at 6.00am. In all these polling stations, ZEC electoral officers were found present ready for the set-up of the polling station. Opening Time According to ZEC the official opening time for the polling station is at 7am. At most of the polling stations where ZESN had observers, the polling stations opened on time, or by 7.15am, with only a few opening between 7.16am and 8.00 am, 8.00am and 9.00am, and by 9.00am. All the polling stations in Mashonaland Central province and Masvingo province were open by 7.15am while Midlands almost all centres had opened by 7.15am. Figure 15.1 shows the percentages, by province, at the polling stations where ZESN had observers, that had opened by 7.15am. Fig 15.1: Percentages of polling stations, by province, at polling stations where ZESN had observers, that had opened by 7.15am. Essential Voting Materials Of the centres that were open by 9:00 am, where ZESN had observers, 100% had essential voting material such as official ZEC stamp for stamping the ballot papers, indelible ink for marking the voters’ fingers, and had the bio-metric voters’ registers with voters’ photographs. Polling Station Set Up 79 | P a g e