44 IRI/NDI Zimbabwe International Election Observation Mission Final Report Domestic monitoring groups created an Election Situation Room (ESR), which brought together 41 CSOs from across Zimbabwe to receive election-related updates and document incidents of violence and irregularity. The ESR was convened by ZESN and provided a platform for effective citizen monitoring and domestic observation of electoral processes, where key stakeholders and the general public could feed information and receive timely updates on key electoral processes. The participating organizations had accredited observers, monitors, and peace ambassadors. A key monitoring feature of the ESR was the establishment of a call center where members of the public could call in to report any incidents observed. The ESR therefore became a platform for aggregating election-related incidents from various sources, processing them and distributing to both the public and relevant institutions charged with resolving relevant issues. The counting process, though slow in many places, generally went well in the polling stations observed by the ZIEOM. The count went late into the night in many locations. No examples of party agents refusing to sign tally sheets were observed, though tally sheets were not posted publicly at some polling stations, even though this is required by law. Notably, the overly onerous paperwork required for recording results led to frustration at some polling stations by officials, party agents, and observers. On August 1, events dramatically changed when military and police quelled protesters who had gathered at ZEC offices and the National Results Collation Center in response to the slow transmission and announcement of the presidential results. Soldiers used live ammunition against unarmed civilians, resulting in numerous injuries and six deaths. The violence was not only a reminder of state-sponsored violence that marked elections past, but had very serious implications for the overall credibility of the elections.