In accordance with section 39(2) of the Electoral Act, the President proclaimed the nomination and polling date for Nkulumane constituency by election. The timing for byelection is controlled by section 158 (3) of the Constitution which states that polling for byelection must take place within 90 days after the vacancy occurred. The Nkulumane byelection was therefore held within a timeframe set by the Constitution. o Nomination Processes Provisions of the Electoral Act were followed during the nomination processes for the byelection. In terms of Section 46 (17) (c) of the Electoral Act, which states that if at the close of nomination court, more than one person has been duly nominated for an election for a constituency, a poll shall take place in accordance with this Part and Part XIII 3 of the Electoral Act. Accordingly, the Nomination Court for Nkulumane sat on 6 November 2015 at the Magistrate court at Tredgold Building in Bulawayo. At the close of the Nomination Court the following had successfully filed their nomination papers for the Nkulumane by-election: Nkulumane Constituency Party Name Candidate Sex ZANU PF RDZ PDZ Killian Sibanda SibusisiweMpofu NgwaloNyathi M F M o Electoral Courts Electoral petitions are part of the electoral justice landscape in Zimbabwe. The Electoral Court was established in terms of Electoral Act Chapter 2:13, 161 (as amended), and has exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals, applications and petitions in terms of this Act; and to review any decision of ZEC or any other person made or purporting to have been made under this Act. The Court’s mandate covers a wide range of potential cases, from voter registration disputes to election petitions by unsuccessful candidates. 5. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION o Administration of the Elections Section 239 of the Constitution gives the ZEC, the mandate to conduct and supervise elections and election related activities. However, as in previous elections and by-elections the capacity to deliver this mandate continues to be negatively affected by the inability of Government to avail adequate resources timeously. Despite the continued resource constraints ZEC managed to complete the administrative and logistical preparations on time 3 Part XIII refers to preparation for and voting at poll 10 | P a g e