We asked respondents in January-February 2017 how they would vote if an election were held the following day. A plurality refused to answer (24%), said they wouldn’t vote (11%), or said they didn’t know (5%). That’s more than said they would vote for the ZANU-PF (38%) or for opposition parties (22%). Besides, a lot can happen between now and next year. So we are not offering predictions. What we might add here is that, although 40% can be described as “unaffiliated”, it is very risky to assume that the “fear” factor is operating, given our argument above in respect of the perceived survey sponsor. It can just as easily be argued that there is a crisis of leadership in the country, with splits in parties left, right, and centre, and the “unaffiliated” are saying a “plague on all their houses: they want democracy, are not very satisfied with the democracy they have, and few of the parties seem to offer much to address this? After 37 years of independence, is this what we expect? We wish to acknowledge the gracious access to the 2017 Afrobarometer data. The conclusions in this current paper should be attributed to RAU and MPOI and not to the Afrobarometer. References Bratton, M, Dulani, B, & Masunungure , E (2015), Detecting manipulation in authoritarian elections: Survey-based methods in Zimbabwe, Electoral Studies 42 (2016) 10-21. Cheeseman, N (2014), Does the African middle class defend democracy? Evidence from Kenya. Working Paper No. 150. Afrobarometer. Howard, B & Logan, C (2017), Afrobarometer findings in Zimbabwe: A few points to consider. Afrobarometer Blog. 15 May 2017. RAU (2015), Citizenship, Active Citizenship & Social Capital in Zimbabwe: a Statistical Study. May 2015, Harare: Research & Advocacy Unit; RAU (2016), Zimbabwean politics: Very Constrained and Confined. The lack of middle-class young women’s voices in political discourse. September 2016. Harare: Research & Advocacy Unit. RAU (2016), Are middle-class women “disconnected democrats”? A preliminary investigation into political participation of Zimbabwean women. November 2016. Harare: Research & Advocacy Unit. Sachikonye, L (2011), When a State Turns on its Citizens. Institutionalized Violence and Political Culture. Jacana Press. ZimStat (2012), Census 2012. National Report. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency 15