Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Report — Of Stuffed ballots and Empty Stomachs If satisfied that the application has been made in due form, the Chief Election Officer returns a ballot paper, not to the applicant, but to the Commanding Officer. The ballot paper is accompanied by the form of declaration of identity, an envelope addressed to the Constituency Elections Officer and a smaller envelope marked “Ballot Paper Envelope” bearing the number of the ballot paper. Presumably the address of the Constituency Elections Officer is intended to be that for the constituency in which the applicant is registered, but this seems to rely upon the good faith and efficiency of the Chief Election Officer. All these documents are placed in an envelope addressed to the applicant. The applicant then casts his or her vote in the following way. He or she shows the documents sent to him by the Chief Election Officer to a competent witness and, if the witness is satisfied as to the voter’s identity, they both sign the declaration of identity. The voter then marks the ballot paper in the presence of the witness “but without disclosing how he or she has voted” and places it into the ballot paper envelope and seals it. The outside of the ballot paper envelope bears the number of the ballot paper within. The ballot paper envelope is placed into the covering envelope bearing the Constituency Elections Officer’s address together with the declaration of identity. Then the sealed envelope is handed back to the Commanding Officer for onward transmission to the Constituency Elections Officer. If a person with any disability or an illiterate person require assistance in marking his or her vote, the competent witness may mark the vote on his or her behalf and must include a statement of this fact in the covering envelope. The Constituency Elections Officer places all returned covering envelopes into a sealed postal ballot box, which candidates should been given an opportunity to see as empty before sealing. The Constituency Election Officer may continue to receive postal ballots until the close of the polls. Thereafter, and before the time for the counting of the votes, the covering envelopes for each are opened and, if the declaration of identity is in order and the if ballot paper number matches that on the ballot envelope,33 the ballot is placed in a ballot box. The box is later opened in the presence of the candidates, their chief election agent, monitors and observers at the same time as the collation and tally of the returns from the polling stations. The Constituency Elections Officer completes form V24, the pro forma for which appears in Electoral Regulations S.I. 21 of 2005. The form provides an entry for the serial numbers of the ballot papers sent to postal voters and an entry for the serial numbers of postal votes received. 33 Thus ensuring that the ballot paper has not been switched – though there is no safeguard that both have not been switched. 12