ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections Election Dispute Resolution Mechanisms Any electoral process inevitably has disputes, a consequence of the inherent contestation in the fight for political power. The electoral laws of the country anticipate such potential conflicts and disputes over election processes and outcomes. Consequently, the electoral laws contain various provisions to address potential electoral contestations by providing dispute resolution mechanisms and remedies where electoral malpractices are committed. a. The Electoral Court Section 161 of the Electoral Act establishes the Electoral Court. The Electoral Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals, applications and petitions that are brought before it in terms of the Electoral Act. The judges of the Electoral Court are appointed and drawn from the judges of the High Court. The Electoral Court dealt with at least 40 appeals that were brought before it in relation to appeals against decisions of the Nomination Court.15The Electoral Court is also set to determine petitions filed by some of the losing National Assembly candidates from the July 31 elections.16 Challenging the presidential election The new Constitution provides for the procedure to be adopted by an aggrieved party in relation to the presidential election. Section 93 of the new Constitution gives jurisdiction to the Constitutional Court to deal with a challenge to the validity of the election of a president by any aggrieved candidate. Such an application must be filed with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election. Section 93(3) of the Constitution directs the Constitutional Court to hear and determine a petition or application within 14 days after the petition or application was lodged. One of the losing candidates in the just ended election filed a petition before the 17 Constitutional Court challenging the validity of the presidential election. 15 The Nomination Court receives papers of all aspiring candidates for confirmation in the national elections. The Electoral Court dealt with 47 nomination appeals. Out of these, 17 were successful, while 12 were dismissed, with the parties withdrawing 18 others. 16 The actual total number of petitions filed could not be ascertained at the time of the writing as petitions were still being filed. 17 See the case of Morgan R Tsvangirai v Robert Mugabe and 7 Others CC72/13. The petition cited several electoral irregularities and malpractices that included the bussing of voters, use of fake registration slips, denial of access to the voters’ roll, intimidation of voters, illegality of elections and vote buying and the absence of a complete authenticated voters’ roll. The Constitutional Court has since declared that Robert Mugabe was duly elected as the president of Zimbabwe, after the applicant filed a notice of withdrawal of his petition before the Constitutional Court. 21 | P a g e