ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe Court to hear and determine a petition or application within 14 days after it has been lodged. This was the case in the 2018 election where, in the Chamisa v Mnangagwa and Others CC 42/18 Case; the aggrieved candidate lodged a case with the Constitutional court seeking to overturn the declaration made by ZEC. The case also raised issues of lodging a petition within the prescribed timelines. However, the petition was dismissed with costs by the Constitutional Court after full arguments were made. The reasons for the dismissal have not been disclosed, although the judges indicated some issues that had been inadequately addressed by the petitioner including failure to provide evidence to show winning the popular vote as alleged. 4.6 Electoral Court Establishment The Electoral Court is established in Section 161 of the Electoral Act. It has jurisdiction to hear appeals, applications and petitions in terms of the Electoral Act. On 28 May 2018, an Electoral Amendment Act was passed and it brought some changes and clarity on some of the court procedures. For instance, Section 121 makes it clear that the Electoral Court is a division of the High Court and judges of the Electoral Court are appointed and drawn from the judges of the High Court. In keeping with the Constitution, the Electoral Amendment Act also calls for gender parity in the assessors for the Electoral Court. It is notable that ahead of the 2018 elections, the securities of costs required by petitioners who file cases at the Electoral Court division of the High Court were reduced. These costs are paid to the court as security in the event that a litigant is not successful. The costs were reduced from ten thousand United States dollars ($10,000) per Election Petition to two thousand ($2000.00) for National Assembly challenges, five hundred ($500.00) for local authority. In the past, the high security costs had naturally limited the number of petitions that could be pursued, and seemed to be a deterrent to would-be petitioners to challenge the results. At least 20 petitions were filed after the 2018 elections, challenging election of members of the National Assembly in some constituencies such as Murewa South, Chikomba Central, Mutare Central, amongst other constituencies. Most of the cases remain ongoing and must be heard within six months of filing, as required by the Electoral Act. 4.8 Legislative Developments As noted earlier, the elections were preceded by some legislative amendments. Notable changes to the Electoral Act passed in May 2018, include the removal of the requirement for an electoral officer to witness how a visually impaired person votes, the establishment of the Electoral Court as a specialised division of the High Court, and introduced a new and detailed Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties, Candidates and other Stakeholders. Importantly, the Act criminalised threatening statements by intimidators on their ability to know how a voter casts his or her ballot. This was an important aspect in respect to the noting of serial numbers by perpetrators as a means to intimidate the electorate. 4.9 Some Legislative Gaps – Electoral Reform Despite the amendment of the Electoral Act, numerous gaps still exist which point to the need for further reform, if not an entire revamping of electoral law. The independence of the ZEC is also impacted by the nature of the relationship with its parent Ministry – Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and funding arrangements. The Minister of Justice continues to have power to veto any regulations made by ZEC, seriously compromising its independence4. ZEC also lacks total financial autonomy. Any donations or grants, 4.7 Presidential Petition The law provides for an aggrieved party in a presidential election to challenge the results before the courts. Section 93 of the Constitution gives jurisdiction to the Constitutional Court to deal with such a challenge. The petition or application must be filed with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election. Section 93(3) of the Constitution directs the Constitutional 4 See section 192(6) of the Electoral Act. 17 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN