ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe other laws whose application impacts on the general ability of the citizens to participate in elections, such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Citizenship Act amongst other laws. implemented, it will create a culture of mutual respect and tolerance amongst political parties. This was a welcome development as the code clearly stipulates the way political parties, candidates, agents, and their supporters should conduct themselves. It also covers issues such as politically-motivated violence, assault and intimidation, which had been inadequately dealt in previous election cycles. The code also addresses issues of hate language; damage and defacing of campaign material; the coercion of voters to participate in political parties' activities, and calls on political players to respect the role of the media and women in elections. It contains a sanctions mechanism through the resolution of disputes within Multiparty Liaison Committees, the sanctions in the Electoral Act including fines, imprisonment, fines, as well as disqualification from voting or filling a public office. 4.4 Electoral System Chapter 1, Section 3 (2) (b) of the Constitution states the principles of good governance, which bind the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level, include(b) An electoral system based on: I. universal adult suffrage and equality of votes; II. free, fair and regular elections; and III. adequate representation of the electorate The Constitution, Section 156 (a), provides that whatever voting method is used, should be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, and transparent. Thus the Code of Conduct is comprehensive in dealing with electoral issues that had plagued the Zimbabwean electoral cycle in previous elections. The Code of Conduct also outlines the duty of political parties, the ZEC and other stakeholders to collaborate with law enforcement and judicial authorities, including the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the Courts, in preventing and sanctioning offenses in the electoral process and these are great strides in ensuring respect for the rule of law during elections. Zimbabwe uses a mixed system of voting. The firstpast-the-post system is used for the election of Councillors and National Assembly representatives, where the candidate with a simple majority wins the seat. An additional 60 seats are reserved for women in the National Assembly using a proportional representation system based on the ratio of voters for the National Assembly. For the presidential election, Zimbabwe uses the majoritarian or two-round voting system. This means that the winner must garner 50% + 1 of the votes to avoid a second round or a run-off. If no candidate gets the required 50%+ 1 vote there is a second round of voting. However, the provisions of the Code were not followed by several political parties. This led to numerous court cases being filed before the election wherein the applicants were violating some provisions of the Electoral Act. In some of these cases, the applicants alleged intimidation of their supporters and vote buying, amongst other electoral malpractices. However, several of the application were dismissed as the litigants did not have adequate evidence some notable examples i n cl u d e N y am ad z aw o v C h i w e s h e E C 12/18(footnote). Some of the orders sought by applicants were granted as was the case with Mangondo v Kariwo and 2 Ors EC13/18. Zimbabwe uses Proportional Representation for the 60 senatorial seats. Political parties submit closed lists to ZEC and, in order to promote gender parity, females and males alternate on the “zebra lists”, with a woman always at the top of each of the lists for the ten provinces. 4.5 Code of Conduct A more comprehensive Code of Conduct for Political Parties, Candidates and other Stakeholders was added to the Electoral Act. If 16 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN