ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe nomination applications. On average, at least two applications were rejected at each Nomination Court for reasons that included the following: prospective candidate for Insiza Rural District Council in Matabeleland South was rejected because the serial number on his voter registration slip was said to be similar to someone else's on the voters' roll. Incorrect and incomplete documentation Incorrect and incomplete documentation was identified as one the most common reason for unsuccessful nominations. LTOs noted that in some cases, the Nomination Courts had an extremely strict interpretation of the legal requirements and would not accept copies of the birth certificate, or a passport in place of a national ID card. This was notably the case at Makoni Rural District Council in Rusape under Makoni West constituency in Manicaland Province where one nominee did not have an original birth certificate while another wanted to use a valid passport in place of a birth certificate. In Bulilima East, Matabeleland South Province, at the local Registrar General's Offices, one nominee did not have a long birth certificate and could not alternatively use the short version of the same document. Regrettably, nominees could have easily circumvented these challenges had they submitted their papers prior to the day of the sitting of the Nomination Court, as permitted by law. These incidents, though few, are a direct consequence of the voters' roll not being available to political parties well before the Courts sat, in contravention of the Electoral Act36. Hence the law needs to provide a specific timeframe when the final voters' roll must be availed to the political contestants before the sitting of the Nomination Court. Prospective Candidates Seeking to Contest in Wards where they were not Registered ZESN received reports of instances where prospective candidates for the local authority elections were rejected on the basis that they were registered to vote in wards different to the ones they wished to contest. This may be a pointer to the inadequacies in voter education for nomination prior to the commencement of the process. Presence of Political Party Agents In three quarters of the Nomination Courts where ZESN observed the process, political party agents and other observers were present. The MDC Alliance and ZANU-PF deployed agents most comprehensively across the country, followed by the People's Rainbow Coalition (PRC). Figure 4 below depicts the presence of party agents by political party. Issues with the Voters' Roll A prospective candidate for Ward 4 in Harare West had his nomination papers rejected because his name was not found as a claimant for registration on the voters' roll, despite the fact that he was in possession of his registration slip that indicated that he was a registered voter. Similarly, a Fig 4: Presence of Party Agents at Nomination Courts by Political Parties MDC-Alliance ZANU-PF People’s Rainbow Coalition NPF Other Dominant Party in the Area 0 20 40 60 80 100 36 Section 21 (3) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] 38 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN