ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe
1.
Executive Summary
In terms of the Constitution and Electoral Laws of
Zimbabwe, in the normal course of events, the
country conducts harmonised elections every five
years. Following the end of the five-year term of
the government that was elected in 2013,
Zimbabweans went to the polls on 30 July 2018.
This report presents ZESN's observations of each
sector of the electoral cycle: the pre-election, the
polling, and the post-election periods. The
observations were gathered through the
deployment of 7240 trained observers: 210 Long
Term Observers (LTOs), who primarily focused on
observing and reporting on the pre and postelection periods in all the country's 210 National
Assembly constituencies from 18 May to 31
August 2018; 750 Sample Based Observers (SBOs)
who observed at randomly selected polling
stations on the Election Day; and 6280 Short Term
Observers (STOs), at selected polling stations in
every ward. The observers were provided with
checklists designed to guide the collection of
relevant data.
1958 local government (councils) positions.
However, the race was essentially between
ZANU-PF and the MDC Alliance, which together,
clearly commanded the majority of votes.
Major changes also happened at the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) ahead of the election.
Justice Rita Makarau resigned as Chairperson of
the Commission eight months before the election,
followed by then Chief Elections Officer,
Constance Chigwamba three months later.
For the 2018 elections, the invitation of observers
was extended to many, including previously
excluded observer missions such as the European
Union (EU), National Democratic Institute (NDI),
Commonwealth, and International Republican
Institute (IRI).
The election was also preceded by amendments to
the Electoral Act in May 2018, which established
the Electoral Court as a specialised division of the
High Court and set out a new and detailed
Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties,
Candidates and other Stakeholders. In addition,
the Act set a threshold of 10 % for the number of
ballot papers that could be printed in excess of
registered voters and specified clear timelines
within which petitions and appeals lodged with
the Electoral Court should be heard. However,
much was omitted in the piece meal amendments,
pointing to the need for comprehensive
amendment of electoral law. Outstanding issues
include, inter alia, the independence of ZEC, the
right to vote, and procurement and printing of
ballot papers.
The 2018 harmonised were held in a relatively
peaceful environment, a break from a past of
violent and tension laden elections to which
Zimbabweans had become accustomed. In
general, human and political rights were respected
more than in previous elections, including
freedoms of speech, assembly, association, and
the media. The election was also the first to feature
a new presidential candidate since 1980 in the
case of the Zimbabwe African Union Patriotic
Front (ZANU-PF) and for the main opposition, the
Movement for Democratic Change (as the MDC
Alliance in this year's election) since 2002.
Mugabe resigned in the midst of an impeachment
process that followed a military intervention code
named “Operation Restore Legacy” in November
2017 while Tsvangirai succumbed to cancer in
February 2018. An unprecedented 23 candidates
participated in the 2018 presidential race; 1648
candidates from 55 political parties and three
political party coalitions vied for the 210 National
Assembly seats; and 6796 candidates vied for the
The pre-election period also saw more visible and
comprehensive Civic and Voter Education (CVE)
initiatives, particularly by ZEC and Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs). Commendably, there had
been an amendment of the law to remove the
requirement for the disclosure of sources of
funding by CSOs and to reverse the requirement
for funding for CVE to be channelled through ZEC.
8
REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
ZESN