ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections ZESN observers report at 99% of polling stations voters’ fingers were checked for indelible ink before a person was permitted to vote and at 100% of polling stations names were checked against the voters roll before a person was permitted to vote. At 99% of polling stations ballot papers were stamped with the ZEC stamp when being issued and at 99% of polling stations voters had their fingers marked with indelible ink. At 49% of polling stations ZESN observers reported 25 or more potential voters being turned away and not permitted to vote. The main reasons why people were turned away included that they were not on the voters’ roll even though they had voted in previous elections, they were in the wrong wards and some had registration slips and names were not appearing on the voters’ roll. However, this problem was much more prevalent in urban than rural areas. While at 39% of rural polling stations ZESN observers reported more than 25 potential voters being turned away and not permitted to vote, at 82% of urban polling stations more than 25 potential voters were turned away and not permitted to vote. In contrast, at 89% of polling stations only five or fewer people were improperly allowed to vote. At 38% of polling stations 25 or more people were assisted to vote. There was a sharp contrast between urban and rural polling stations. At 49% of rural polling stations more than 25 people were assisted to vote as opposed to only 5% of urban polling stations. 91 | P a g e