officials there were housed in government offices.119 Opposition officials told Human Rights Watch that as a result of the location, people were scared to take any complaints they had to commission officials because of the high number of officers from Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organization at the government building. Despite the fact that they are responsible for compiling complaints about the electoral process, ZEC officials have proved reluctant to speak officially to key stakeholders including the opposition and officials from the ZESN. According to Noel Kututwa, chair of ZESN, “We haven’t been able to meet with ZEC officially. They refuse to meet us, so we haven’t been able to raise any of our concerns. The fact that they are inaccessible means they aren’t quite as independent as they claim.”120 This sentiment was echoed by MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa, who told Human Rights Watch, “ZEC have refused to meet us on several occasions. We have letters from them that state that they cannot meet with us.”121 Other problems with voter registration and inspection of the voters’ roll Zimbabwe’s voter registration process officially started on June 17, 2007, when the government announced a mobile voter registration exercise to allow voters who were not registered to vote, or had moved to new constituencies to register themselves as voters. The mobile registration process was run by ZEC, and run concurrently with the issuing of identity cards (IDs) to those that do not have them (all Zimbabweans are required to have an identity card in order to vote) by the office of the Registrar General. Voter registration at stationery registration offices for the purposes of participating in the election commenced on February 2, 2008 and closed on February 14, 2008 (see below).122 From the start, the mobile voter registration exercise was beset by significant problems including a lack of resources and materials for the exercise, and the disenfranchisement of potential voters. In all the provinces visited by Human Rights 119 Human Rights Watch interview with MDC official (name withheld), Mutare South, Manicaland province, February 10, 2008. 120 Human Rights Watch interview with Noel Kututwa, February 7, 2008. 121 Human Rights interview with Nelson Chamisa, February 21, 2008. 122 Human Rights Watch interview with ZESN official (name withheld), Harare, September 26, 2007. 39 Human Rights Watch March 2008