points to the depth of the interest in the elections among Zimbabweans. The rallies turnouts and the intensities of campaigns point to the zero-sum-ness of these elections. The 2018 Harmonised elections are less ordinary and lot different from the rest of Zimbabwean elections since independence. Thus, these elections have several potential outcomes, including of turning the clock of democratization and throwing the country back to the Hobbesian state of nature of “war of all, against all”, or ushering the country into the bliss of democracy. Given, everyone in Zimbabwe who believes in elections thinks that at the end of the 2018 elections, the elections’ sanctity would rule and democracy would win. There are promises though. The incumbent President promised a new dispensation in which he has “preached peace” in some quarters. By percentage points, Mr. Mnangagwa’s regime is starkly different from Mr. Mugabe’s. The cases of overt violence have been surprisingly low, but covert-nocturnal ones have been reported widely. Various factors are driving the electoral process in Zimbabwe at this time including the parties and party system, voter participation and turnouts, electoral trends and dynamic, issues and controversies emerging in the preparations for these elections. Zimbabwe is a typical multi-party society where traditional parties usually are joined by “elections” parties-those that emerge during elections seasons and disappear immediately after the results are announced. In theory, the system in Zimbabwe is such that any party has an equal chance of controlling the government separately or in a coalition. This has caused a mushrooming of parties and this election has 127 parties and independent candidates and 22 presidential candidates registered. As time ticks towards 30 July the figures of those attending at main political parties’ rallies have been increasing, reducing the election to twohorse race. However, the election controversy has been around the technical side of delivering the elections, not on the “politics” of the process. 4. Political context of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe’s 2018 harmonized elections will take place against a backdrop of 18 years of political crisis. These were the years of severe and constrained political space; a series of elections characterized by violence, and widely judged as flawed. The national institutions were weakened and the public confidence in the credibility of the electoral system to deliver a democratic outcome was weakened. The elections will also take place following a coup leading to the removal of Robert Mugabe from power after 37 years and the appointment of Emmerson Mnangagwa as president. 9