Appendix A 65 IRI-NDI Pre-Election Assessment Mission Statement Zimbabwe 2018 Harmonized Elections large numbers of voters, and not just those authorized by law, were assisted in voting. Under the Electoral Amendment Act, voters can now select a person of their choosing to assist them, as opposed to being required to have the police and election officials do so, reducing concerns that the secrecy of their votes will be compromised. Significant Opportunities Missed Thus Far While all of the above referenced improvements are significant, the IRI-NDI delegation notes that important opportunities are being missed to enhance the public confidence that Zimbabweans will be able to participate without fear in a credible electoral process. These missed opportunities include: ● Strengthening the Independence of ZEC – Under the 2013 Constitution, ZEC is the mandated independent commission responsible for conducting elections. This is an improvement over the previous arrangement, in which the Office of the Registrar General, which is not an independent body, played a major role. Stakeholders have also generally welcomed the appointment of a new chairperson for the ZEC. However, the constitution also vests the Minister of Justice, Legal, and Constitutional Affairs with oversight authority over the Commission, leading to concerns about the institution’s autonomy. ● Information on Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) – The ZEC provided national and provincial level updates on the number of registrants throughout the BVR process. While useful, this information was insufficient for stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the BVR process. Data disaggregated by age and gender is required to best assess the BVR by registration center. This information is particularly important given that the problems with the 2013 voters roll related not to the overall number of registrants, but the distribution of registrants by geography and age. The provision of more detailed information throughout the multiple BVR phases would have enhanced transparency and allowed for more effective civic and voter education efforts. ● Opportunities for Urban Voters to Register – Concerns were raised throughout the BVR process about the insufficient numbers of BVR kits being deployed to Bulawayo and Harare. For example, according to official figures, 34 percent of outstanding registrants at the start of the so-called mop-up exercise were in Bulawayo and Harare while the ZEC assigned only 6 percent of the BRV kits to these provinces. Though the commission should have deployed more BVR kits to rural areas to reduce the distances citizen must travel to register, sufficient BVR kits should also have been available for urban areas to provide citizens living there a reasonable opportunity to register. As a result, the registration rates for Bulawayo and Harare are significantly lower than the rest of the country. ● Audit of the Voters Roll – The ZEC has announced that overall approximately 5.5 million people have registered to vote. This is a significant achievement. However, a true assessment of the quality of the voters roll requires an audit involving both computer and field tests. Such audits can be conducted by election commissions or commissioned by them, or by independent groups on their own initiative. Thus far, the ZEC has not commissioned an external group with recognized expertise to conduct an audit and has not provided political 5