Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Report — Of Stuffed ballots and Empty Stomachs 78 seats, the opposition 41 seats, and one of the 17 independent candidates, one seat.5 The comfortable margin obtained by ZANU(PF) arises from Mugabe’s power to directly and indirectly appoint another 30 members to the 150-seat House. Nonetheless the number of contested seats won by ZANU(PF) is far greater than its record and the results of its governance would suggest should be the case. As a consequence, the moment the results were announced, the opposition declared that the election had been neither free nor fair and that the results had been rigged. The opposition immediately seized upon the fact that the final tally of ZANU(PF) and MDC votes in many6 constituencies was far larger than the number of people that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had indicated had voted in those constituencies. The inflated figures seemed to indicate stuffed ballots. ZEC’s subsequent explanations for this discrepancy were unconvincing. It should have been a simple matter for ZEC to dispel suspicion. It had merely to publish the returns for each polling station in the disputed constituencies, and indeed it was called upon to do so. This it has steadfastly refused to do, even in the face of a Court Application to compel it to release this information. Similarly, the MDC should have been able to prove its allegations in the same way, using the returns of its election agents. It has failed to do so and has sought to rely on ZEC’s own figures. This report analyses the allegations of rigging in relation to the voting process and whether the process was free and fair. Three issues are of concern: whether the process was fair, whether people were able to cast their vote freely over the voting period, and whether the announced results accurately reflected the vote. A. WHETHER THE PROCESS WAS FAIR The militarisation of key public institutions in Zimbabwe has been noted elsewhere. 7 As President, Robert Mugabe has the power to appoint persons to numerous commissions and to head various public bodies. Over the last 7 years he has chosen to appoint former army and security personnel to these positions. This is what has happened in respect of the bodies overseeing the electoral process. 5 6 7 If the system were one of proportional representation rather than “first past the post system” the MDC would have gained 48 seats. See Table C at the end of this document. See Kubatana archive “Mugabe Steps Up Militarisation of State Institutions” - Zim-Online – 9 May 2005. 6