ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections  Collation of results at the National Command Centre. In addition, ZESN collaborated and networked with several civil society organisations during the constitution-making process and throughout the 2013 electoral cycle. To enhance understanding of the electoral law and environment, ZESN commissioned and published several expert papers and opinions on various aspects of the electoral cycle. The table below shows the number of observers that were accredited by ZEC and deployed by ZESN as polling station-based and mobile observers. Table: 1 TYPES OF OBSERVERS ACCREDITED AND DEPLOYED Static1 Observers Mobile Observers Supervisors Total observers accredited and deployed NUMBER 6 519 359 221 7 099 In addition, observers were deployed to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) National Command Centre to observe the collation of votes and the announcement of results at that level. On Election Day ZESN operated an Information Centre and Situation Room where civil society organisations gathered, collected and shared information on the polling process. Political Context Since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has held national elections at least every five years and in one instance (2008) after three years due to the harmonization of all electoral processes in the country. Over the years, voter turnout has slowly been decreasing. It was 94 per cent in 1980, 84 per cent in 1985 and 47 per cent in 1990. Even in 2000, when there was increased competition on the electoral field, voter turnout was only 52 per cent. Since 2000 all national elections were marred by allegations of voter intimidation, harassment of candidates and political parties. Losing political parties have also raised claims of organised electoral fraud committed by the election management bodies. The role of security forces in elections and biased media coverage, amongst other issues has also been repeatedly raised. Unfortunately, increased 1 This includes polling station based observers and constituency collating based observers. 12 | P a g e