cyber bullying was prevalent. The report recommends to all stakeholders to collaborate in exploring and adopting measures to increase participation of women as candidates in future elections. This also includes incrementally raising the number of women in leadership and decision- making positions through appointment at other levels. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission According to the Commission, the overall environment was peaceful compared to other electoral periods in the country. However, in some provinces, the pre-election environment was marred by electoral mal practices, which included, partisan distribution of food, use of hate speech, threats and intimidation. The Commission’s report concluded that the 2018 harmonised elections were a mixed bag. And that while this election can be hailed as one of the most peaceful elections post 200, there were challenges in fulfilling the right to vote as provided for in the Constitution. Some citizens were subjected to conditions that made it impossible for them to enjoy their human rights in full as they were exposed to intimidation and threats.34 The Zimbabwe Election Support Network The 2018 elections highlighted a positive shift in electoral processes with the upholding of fundamental freedoms. Notable improvements in law and practice were also witnessed during the 2018 harmonized elections. The report noted improvement of ZEC engagement with stakeholders compared to the 2013 elections. However, the integrity of the 2018 harmonized elections was undermined by an uneven pre-election playing field which was characterized by widespread intimidation of registrants during the BVR exercise; the partisan role of some traditional leaders who openly engaged in partisan politics, the partisan distribution of food aid, the use of state resources in campaigns, biased reporting by the public media, and the rather ineffective stakeholder engagement by ZEC also marred the electoral processes. This resulted in a skewed electoral playing field. The outcome of the election was a heavily contested plebiscite with ZANU PF securing the control of urban and MDC-A the rural constituencies 34 The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Preliminary Report, 23-31 July 2018,http://kubatana.net/2018/08/06/zimbabwe-human-rights-commission-zhrc-preliminary-electionmonitoring-report-23-31-july-2018/ 47