ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe Areas of Convergence • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • There is national polarization across political, tribal, gender, class, and other distinctions; The people of Zimbabwe should be patient as they wait for the official results from the ZEC; The ZEC should liaise with political parties to verify the results; ZEC should engage with stakeholders after elections to address issues related to the voter register and ballot paper printing; Results transmission from the polling station to the national results centre should be reviewed to enhance the release of election results; The onus is on the people of Zimbabwe to ultimately determine the credibility of their elections; Many polling stations lacked sufficient facilities such as ramps for disabled voters; Zimbabweans should demand that government and political leaders honour their will by delivering on ensuring peace and personal security; Political contestants and non-partisan observer groups should independently verify the results released by the ZEC; Zimbabweans should rely on peaceful expression and avoid acts or threats of retribution against political rivals following the Con-court ruling; The country's political leaders should honour voters' aspirations of reconciliation and inclusive and responsive governance; Digital media was more open than traditional media but focused excessively on personalities than pertinent electoral issues; ZEC should be independent from government so that it exercises power in addressing media violations brought to its attention; There were delays in adjudication and several controversial judgments passed brought the independence of the judiciary to question; ZEC, BAZ and ZMC fulfilled their mandate to monitor the media; Opposition members were targeted by members of the Zimbabwe security forces; Further reform to the Electoral Act is required; There were delays in the release of the voters' roll; The ZEC lacked transparency in its processes; The ZEC lacks a proactive communication strategy over concerns raised by political parties; The ZEC was implored to engage stakeholders on streamlining the counting process so that it is less tedious; The ZEC should engage all stakeholders to reform certain electoral laws during the post-election period; Most of the political parties do not have deliberate policies to promote the inclusion of women as candidates as per the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development; The observer missions commended the provision in the law for 60 quota seats for women in the National Assembly and the zebra system for Senatorial seats whereby the first candidate should be a woman; Multi-liaison parties are not fully utilized by the political parties given the recorded number of cases of inter and intra-party violence; Despite an improvements and the amendment of the Electoral Act and other pieces of the legislation, the legal framework governing of the elections is still not properly aligned to the 2013 constitution; ZEC failed to implement some of the AUEOM recommendations, for example, to ensure pluralistic media; The high accreditation fees charged violates Article 12(3) of 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; 80 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN