Introduction
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) deployed Long Term Observers (LTOs)
to observe the Nomination Court proceedings in all 10 provinces across the country. The
Nomination Court sat on 14 June 2018 to receive papers from candidates for local
authority, National Assembly, and presidential elections set for 30 July 2018.
The LTOs observed proceedings in a total of 116 Nomination Courts including Ward level,
national assembly and the presidential nomination courts across all 10 provinces on the
day of the court sitting, 14 June 2018.
Key observations
This report is primarily based on observations by the LTOs deployed by ZESN to observe
the Nomination Court proceedings.
Opening and closing of nomination courts
Of the nomination centres where ZESN observed, 82% opened on time and had started
receiving nomination papers by 1030 hours. On average, the courts handled between 20
and 140 application. Only 33% of the courts completed verification of nomination papers
by 1700 hours while the majority were still checking nomination documents until very late
in the evening. For instance, in Mutare candidates were still queuing to submit their
papers to the Nomination Court at 1900 hours while the The Nomination Court for
Matabeleland South (Magistrates Court in Gwanda), Mashonaland West (Chinhoyi Civil
Court), completed the process the following day at 02.oo am.
Unsuccessful nomination applications
ZESN observers reported instances where some candidates could not successfully submit
their nomination applications. On average, at least 2 applications were rejected at each
nomination court. Of concern is that, at some centres where ZESN observers were
stationed, the ZEC officials refused to provide information on the reasons for the
rejection of nomination papers of some prospective candidates. In spite of this,
observers identified the following as some of the reasons for disqualification:
1. Incorrect and incomplete documentation
Incorrect and incomplete documentation was identified as one the most common reason
for unsuccessful nominations, as illustrated in Figure 1. LTOs noted that in some cases,
the nomination courts had an extremely strict interpretation of the legal requirements
and would not accept copies of the birth certificate, or a passport in place of a national
ID card. This was notably the case at Makoni Rural District Council in Rusape under
Makoni West constituency in Manicaland Province where one candidate did not have an
original birth certificate while another wanted to use a valid passport in place of a birth
certificate. In Bulilima East, Matabeleland South Province, at the local Registrar General’s
Offices, one candidate did not have a long birth certificate and could not alternatively use
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