The outcome of the election showed that it was a heavily contested plebiscite, with the two
major political parties securing the control of rural and urban constituencies respectively.
The presidential election was even closer, with the two main protagonists separated by a
very small margin. It is therefore imperative that the government invests in efforts that
promote dialogue, national healing, and reconciliation, especially following the tragic deaths
of protestors on the 1st of August 2018, as a result of the unwarranted use of excessive force
by the security forces in a bid to break the protests. It is in light of this that the position
taken by ZANU-PF to consider creating a constitutional office for the leader of the main
opposition could be deemed a step towards inclusivity in governance. The report proffers a
number of recommendations on key issues where reforms are required including, among
others:
Government of Zimbabwe: Need for a comprehensive review of Zimbabwe’s
electoral framework. An all-inclusive electoral reform committee should be set up
to deliberate on political, administrative and legal reforms that are needed to
enhance the credibility of Zimbabwe’s electoral processes;
Parliament: Comprehensively amend or wholesomely repeal the Electoral Act;
Government: Ratify and domesticate international and regional frameworks that
govern electoral processes;
Government: Accord Parliament oversight over ZEC;
Parliament: Enact legislation to specify timelines for the availing of the final
voters’ roll;
Parliament: Enact legislation to provide for disclosure of sources and audits of the
use of campaign financing;
Parliament: Enact legislation to compel political parties to observe quotas for
women;
ZEC: Ensure transparency in ballot paper designing, printing, storage, and
transmission;
ZEC: Reinstate special voting;
ZEC and CSOs: Voter education should emphasise on secrecy of the vote and
counter misinformation by electoral stakeholders;
Government and ZEC: Extend the right to vote to all citizens, including those
imprisoned and in the diaspora;
Parliament, the ZRP, and ZHRC: Add and enforce punitive measures to those who
contravene the Electoral Code of Conduct;
ZEC: Ensure transparency in results transmission where presidential results for
each polling station are transmitted directly to the national results collation
centre;
ZEC: Consider total valid votes, and not total votes cast, in counting votes as well
as avoiding errors that may necessitate the revision of announced results;
ZEC: Enforce the law governing the conduct of the State-media around the
election cycle to ensure equal coverage of different political parties;
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