each constituency. The Constitution further stipulates that no constituency or ward should have 20 percent more or fewer registered voters than the other constituencies or wards. Constituency boundaries delimited by ZEC remain unchanged since the 2008 elections, and do not reflect the more recent census. There are significant variations in the size of constituencies for National Assembly elections. The largest constituency of Harare South, with 76,425 voters is over five times larger than the smallest of Gutu North, with 14,198 voters. Half of the constituencies differ from the average by more than 20%. As such, equal suffrage is not provided for. Recommendation 2: Constituency delimitation must be carried out in good time prior to the next elections to ensure equal suffrage in accordance with the Constitution. An Act of Parliament could be adopted developing and elaborating the legal framework for boundary delimitation, to also include provisions for consultations with political parties and civil society and a complaints and appeals mechanism before the parliamentary approval process. V. Election Administration Administrative arrangements for polling were in place, but ZEC lacked transparency and inclusivity; and further enhancement of the level of trust stakeholders, including voters, have in its independence and in the electoral process is required A Role and Structure of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ZEC is established as an independent constitutional body, composed of a chairperson and eight commissioners, with a six year mandate, renewable once. The president, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, appoints the chairperson who must be a judge, and one commissioner as Deputy Chairperson. Eight commissioners are appointed by the president from a list of not fewer than twelve nominees submitted by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. Four commissioners are women as constitutionally required, and so, currently, is the Chair.18 ZEC’s independence is, to some degree, undermined by the involvement of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in the approval of regulations adopted by the Commission. Further, the complaint that large numbers of ZEC staff are former security force personnel, and had been employed during previous contentious elections, was never fully clarified by the institution, raising concerns regarding ZEC’s independence and impartiality. Thus, doubts remained about its capacity to carry out its mandate without government and security force interference, as seen in past polls.19 18 Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba was sworn in on 1 February 2018 after the resignation of the former chairperson. Six commissioners, whose mandate expired, were replaced in 2016. The Standing Rules and Orders Committee must advertise the vacancies, invite the public to make nominations, conduct public interviews of prospective candidates, prepare a list of nominees and submit the list to the President. The number of candidates on the list must be at least one-and-a-half times the number of vacancies to be filled. ZEC meets at least six times a year, decisions are taken by a majority vote with a minimum quorum of five commissioners. 19 To illustrate the challenge for ZEC to reassure public confidence prior to polling, the Afrobarometer poll referred to 29% of respondents doubting that their vote would be counted, while 44% believed that incorrect results would be announced, Pre-election baseline survey April/May 2018, http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/zim_r7_presentation_07062018.pdf. 9