Zimbabwe Ml Senate or House of Assembly vacancies are filled through by-elections held 14 to 28 days after the vacancy was officially recorded. Transitory Provisions As earlier indicated, the electoral provisions described above were somewhat relaxed and simplified for the first general elections of February 1980. As a result, citizens fulfilling conditions for being registered on the electoral rolls could vote and were eligible for election even if not so registered. Constituencies delimited in a 1978 Act were used for election of White Assembly members. As regards Black members, there were eight electoral districts corresponding to the eight provinces into which the country was previously divided; electors voted exclusively for registered parties; in these constituencies, parties obtaining less than 10% of the vote were eliminated; each remaining party was allocated as many seats as it obtained the quota, arrived at through division of the seats set aside for the district into the total number of votes cast in the district. If there were still one or more seats to be allocated after this process, they were allotted to the parties with the greatest number of left-over votes, in decreasing order. In the event of a vacancy, the party holding the seat which became vacant could, by meeting certain conditions, designate the new member. Postal voting was not allowed. The transitory provisions were due to remain in force until such time as the electoral constituencies provided for in the Constitution had been delimited. General Political Considerations and Conduct of the Elections In late 1979, the leaders of the major political parties met at Lancaster House, London, under the chairmanship of the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington. Their agreements paved the way towards elaboration of arrangements for a "cease-fire" and the preparation of conditions necessary for the holding of legislative elections after a brief transition period. The February 1980 elections enabled effect to be given to the proposals for a new Constitution and its entry into force, which were tabled at the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference; they were the subject of Orders -in- Council (S.I. 1979/1600, 1654) and Act No. 14 of 1979 relating to the qualifications of candidates and the conduct of elections. The House of Assembly elections were held on 14 February and on 27, 28 and 29 February. On the 14th, 20 House of Assembly members were elected by voters registered on the White Rolls. The Rhodesian Front of Mr. Ian Smith won all these seats, 14 of them without being opposed. From the 27th to the 29th, 80 members were elected by voters registered on the Common Rolls. At this poll, voter turn-out was high, reaching 93.7%. The Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front), led by Mr. Robert Mugabe, won 57 seats — absolute majorities in both the Common Roll constituencies and the House of Assembly as a whole. Mr. Joshua Nkomo, head of the Patriotic Front which he had previously led with Mr. Mugabe, won 20 seats. The party of Bishop Abel Muzorewa, former Prime 143