elections was broadly acknowledged, public confidence in national institutions and the political message of a “new dispensation” remained critically low. On 30 July, Zimbabweans cast ballots for the presidency, parliament and local councils (see Legal Framework section for description of the electoral system). Twenty-three candidates registered for the presidential election3, 1,631 contested for the National Assembly and 6,576 for local councils. The ruling ZANU-PF was challenged by a new opposition coalition, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC-Alliance), which was formed in August 2017 by seven opposition parties.4 For the first time in 38 years the ruling party contested the presidential elections with a new candidate, President Emmerson Mnangagwa5, who built his campaign on the pledge of a “new beginning”.6 The opposition MDC-Alliance also fronted a new candidate, Nelson Chamisa, who succeeded the long-standing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after his death in February 2018. Both parties experienced controversial succession processes, internal splits and conflicts prior to the elections, which impacted on the campaign environment, most significantly during the primaries and the nomination process. The main opposition party MDC-T split with the former Vice-President of the party, Thokozani Khupe, who led a small faction retaining the original name and symbol of the MDC-T party.7 The most significant ZANU-PF splinter party was the National Patriotic Front (NPF),8 which publicly endorsed the presidential candidacy of Nelson Chamisa. Zimbabweans have traditionally voted predominantly along specific demographic lines with the opposition having its strongholds in urban areas and the ruling party relying on the vote of the rural population. The pervasive link of the ruling party with state structures was particularly manifest in rural areas. This deepened existent division lines across the country and negatively impacted on the democratic character of the electoral environment. The economic hardship and the dependency of the population, especially in some rural areas, on food aid and state development projects for instance, made voters vulnerable to manipulation and intimidation. Further, the history of rigged and violent elections, an atmosphere of fear and deep mistrust in the electoral process made for a challenging election environment which required additional efforts by stakeholders to convince voters that these elections would be different from previous ones. IV. Legal Framework The legal framework provides for key rights and freedoms, but further reform of the Electoral Act is required 3 One candidate withdrew on 24 July 2018. These are the leading party of the Alliance, the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) before the split in April 2018, Movement for Democratic Change-Ncube (MDC-N), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Transform Zimbabwe (TZ), Zimbabwe People First (ZPF), Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga (ZANU-N), and Multi-Racial Christian Democrats (MCD). 5 Emerson Mnangagwa is a long-standing member of the ZANU-PF leadership, having held senior positions in government since independence, including Minister for State Security 1980-1988, Minister of Defence 2009-2013, First Vice-President 2013-2017. 6 With ZANU-PF now endorsing economic reforms, foreign investment, devolution of powers and re-engagement with the West, the campaign messages of the ruling party targeted traditional opposition topics. 7 Thokozani Khupe ran for the presidency, largely relying on votes from her traditional stronghold in Bulawayo. 8 NPF was formed by disaffected ZANU-PF members linked to Robert Mugabe and Generation 40, the political grouping supporting former First Lady Grace Mugabe, shortly before the court nomination. 4 5