2005 elections. Instead, the government has been responsible again for similar patterns of violations in the 2008 pre-election campaign period. In particular, Human Rights Watch has found that the government has not implemented several positive amendments to electoral laws that, in any event, came too late in the day to have any effect on the electoral process, leading to a flawed and chaotic voter registration process. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is inadequately prepared to run the elections, and under-resourced. It is still partisan toward the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and not independent or impartial: despite new provisions in the constitution mandating an overhaul in its composition, the ZEC is still managed by former military officials and military personnel who are widely believed to support the ruling party. The ZEC has also failed to adequately educate and sensitize the voting public on the new extremely complex electoral process, which requires voters to simultaneously cast four different ballot papers on the same day. To date, opposition political parties have not been accorded equal access to the state broadcast media, and state media coverage of the elections has so far been overwhelmingly pro-ruling party in nature. As in previous elections, local government authorities, ZANU-PF supporters, and security forces including the police and central intelligence, are the main perpetrators of the violations being committed in the election run-up. These violations include intimidation and acts of violence against opposition and perceived opposition supporters, restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression; limits on media freedom; and abuse in the government’s distribution of maize and agricultural equipment to achieve political advantage. It is encouraging that the government and senior police officers have sought to publicly assure voters that they will take a “zero tolerance” approach to violence. However, in spite of such assurances, incidents of violence and intimidation continue to occur and remain a serious concern. And in spite of new provisions in the Electoral Laws Amendment Act banning intimidation and violence, Human Rights Watch recorded 12 incidents of intimidation and violence, mainly perpetrated by 3 Human Rights Watch March 2008