candidate. This means that essentially the country for that period between the declaration of the initial poll’s result and the declaration of the presidential run-off result will be under the leadership of a person who has virtually no prospect of becoming president going forward. • Ordinarily that would not be a big problem but given the extreme sensitivities that attend politics of power in Zimbabwe, this could be a cause for uncertainty and instability during that period. It may be a point to consider if a provision could be inserted, either in the Constitution or under the Act to deal with that possibility, however remote it might seem in the foreseeable future. VI PRE-EMPTION OF RESULTS’ ANNOUNCEMENT Pre-emption of Results • The new Section 66A seeks to prohibit any person from pre-empting the official announcement of the results of an election. Persons who purport to announce the results of an election before they are officially announced by an electoral officer will be subject to criminal prosecution. Official declaration and announcement of results of an election is the sole preserve of electoral officials. Paragraph 2 specifically bars office-bearers or members of a political party from purporting to declare and announce the results of any election prior to official declaration by an electoral officer. Paragraph 3(b) is the catch-all provision as it covers both office bearers and members of political parties. • In order to prevent pre-emption of results as envisaged in the Bill, ZESN also urges the Commission to ensure that results are declared forthwith after counting and without any delays to prevent any anxieties or concerns. In the past pre-emption of the official declaration has occurred as a direct response to failures to declare results promptly. This can be avoided by the Commission ensuring prompt declaration of results. • This clause may pose risks and challenges particularly given that polling stations and constituency returns will be made public at the relevant stages of the process. Many people who are merely members of political parties are at risk of contravening this provision even if they are 15