ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections The new Electoral Amendment Act provides for special voting and this was conducted on the 14th of July and the 15th of July 2013. The special vote was characterised by logistical problems, as voting materials were delivered late, some applicants did not receive their envelopes, and in some instances envelopes went to the wrong polling stations. The process moved slowly and a decision was made to extend the vote. However, despite this extension, most applicants for the special vote did not cast their vote. The lack of full participation of the applicants prompted a call to allow those disenfranchised to vote in the harmonised elections on 31 July 2013. ZESN also noted with concern that at times names of those that had voted were not crossed out in the voters roll hence fears of double voting arose. Nomination of candidates was held in a peaceful manner with a number of political parties campaigning and robust competition witnessed being in the National Assembly and local authority elections. However, sporadic reports of intimidation and forced party allegiance were recorded in the pre-election and campaigning period. However, the campaign period and polling day was generally peaceful. Going into the election there were serious reservations about the disenfranchisement of potential voters through an inadequate voter registration process, inequitable access to the media and the integrity of the voters’ roll. Additionally, political parties were unable to access the final voters’ roll until the eve of the election. This voters’ roll was provided in hard copy not electronic copy as provided for by the law which was difficult to analyse. Other election management issues included questions about the resourcing and independence of the ZEC, which conducted the poll. Although ZEC faced its own constraints its activities were conducted under intense scrutiny. Election Day was peaceful but characterised by unusually high numbers of assisted voters, amid allegations of forced voting. Many voters were turned away as they were not on the voters’ roll. Whilst some of this could be attributed to voters not knowing their correct wards, there were sufficient numbers of people who were unable to vote at the same station where they had previously voted in 2008. Most of those affected had not changed their registration, resulting in concerns and allegations of manipulation of the voters’ roll. Unlike the previous election of 2008, there were no problems with the results management and announcement as the process was swift, with most election locations displaying results outside the venue as required by law. The Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) rejected the results, threatened to boycott Parliament and government, and subsequently challenged its losses in the presidential race as well as in some of the National Assembly seats. The court challenge against the presidential election outcome was eventually withdrawn with the MDC-T citing several reasons such as lack of access to election material amongst others. Other cases against National Assembly results were withdrawn as the candidates failed to raise the USD$10, 000 that was required as security for costs by the Electoral Court. The voters’ roll of 19 June as provided by the Office of the Registrar-General clearly showed that urban voters had systematically been denied the opportunity to register to vote. An estimated 99.97 per cent 7|Page