ZIMBABWE ELECTION SUPPORT NETWORK
ELECTORAL REFORM PROPOSALS
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The regulations must provide for the total time
allocated to each political party or candidate, the
duration of each broadcast by the party or candidate,
and the times when the areas to which such
broadcasts are to be transmitted.
ZEC should be more proactive in its monitoring of
broadcasters during the election period to ensure
that they observe these provisions.
Media should be barred from publishing language
encouraging racial, ethnic or religious prejudice or
hatred or inciting violence or likely to lead to undue
public contempt towards any political party, candi
date or class of persons in Zimbabwe.
parties, CSOs and government should draw up a
code of conduct to prevent incumbent politicians mis
using State resources for political purposes.
Conflict Management
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Special Voting
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Postal voting in Zimbabwe has also remained
controversial, shrouded in secrecy, inaccessible to
observers, riddled with allegations of intimidation,
malpractice and non-transparency.
It is strongly recommended that the doctrine of
secrecy as well as transparency that is applied to
other electoral processes must also apply to postal
voting.
Members of the Zimbabwean Diaspora must be
allowed to vote.
When a member of the security forces votes in
advance or by post, the competent witness before
whom he or she votes must not be a person who has
the capacity to intimidate the member.
Ballot papers and Ballot boxes
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The legislation must specify that ballot boxes are to
be made of translucent material.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must disclose
the total number of ballot papers printed for any
election.
Counting of votes
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Candidates and their agents, and accredited
observers, should have a right to be present at the
counting process; the minimum number of observers
who may be present should be specified in the Act,
not left entirely to regulation.
The Act should state what is to happen if a candidate
or election agent disputes the accuracy of the
verification or collation of returns.
Counting of votes
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The circumstances in which the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission can order a recounting of votes must be
clarified.
If a recount is ordered, the destruction of ballot
papers and other documents relating to the election
concerned must be stayed.
State funding of political parties
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Funding should be done through the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, not by a Minister.
The threshold for funding should be reduced to three
per cent of the votes cast in the previous election.
Provision should be made for new parties to be
funded.
There should be a relaxation of the prohibition
against foreign funding, to allow members of the
Diaspora to participate in the country’s politics.
All parties should be required to disclose donations
above a prescribed amount.
Code of conduct for political parties
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The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, in a broadly
consultative process which includes mainly political
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In future, to enable the Electoral Court to resolve
disputes expeditiously before elections take place,
there is need for competent, effective, independent
and impartial judiciary and electoral institutions.
There is also need to complement the judges of the
Electoral Court with staff, equipment and adequate re
sources.
The jurisdiction of the Electoral Court should be
broadened, for example the resolution of disputes
occurring prior to the election and should be
extended to cover all matters relating to elections.
The court should have all the powers of the High
Court in civil matters, including the High Court’s
powers of review
The degree of proof required for election petitions
should be the ordinary civil standard: proof on a
balance of probabilities.
Electoral tribunals should be established to arbitrate
disputes if mediation fails.
ELECTORAL STAKEHOLDERS
Political Parties
It is recommended that:
+ Political parties must walk the talk of political
tolerance. The message of zero tolerance to political
violence must cascade from the top leadership
structures to the grassroots,
+ All political parties, the electronic and print media
must be barred from using/publishing any form of in
flammatory language and hate speech.
+ Political parties should be compelled to practice
effective internal democracy to reduce or avoid intraparty violence
+ Acceptable conduct should be agreed in a legally
enforceable code of conduct for political parties. The
enforcement of offences should be vigorous and
penalties should be prohibitive such as
disqualification of candidates or huge fines. This
would ensure that parties abstain from vote buying or
any other dishonest or unethical election campaign
conduct.
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To avoid intimidation and subsequent reprisals, the
names and addresses of candidates’ chief election
agents should not be published.
Election Observation
To improve election observation, it is recommended that:
+ ZEC should have the decisive say on which
observers to invite and accredit without any
ministerial veto power as is currently the case,
+ Accreditation should be decentralized
+ Devise an easier way of accreditation
+ ZEC must also accredit sufficient numbers of
local and international observers to allow
comprehensive observation of elections.
+ The security of independent and domestic election
observers must be guaranteed.
Election observers
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NGOs and Human Rights Defenders
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The excessive restrictions on observation of elections
must be relaxed; anyone should be entitled to
observe elections, and the accreditation of observers
should be employed only to give accredited
observers privileges such as the right to enter polling
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Human Rights NGOs also bore the brunt of
retributive violence.
There was widespread harassment of observers,
human rights lawyers, journalists and others who
were thought to be either sympathetic to the
opposition or did not give adequate coverage to the
ruling party. Civil society and the work they do should
be accorded more respect as it is important for
democratic principles to take root in Zimbabwe.
Security Forces
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It is therefore recommended that mechanisms be put
in place to ensure that security forces conduct
themselves in a professional and non-partisan
manner.
Although the presence of police officers at polling
stations is necessary to maintain order, such
deployment should not done in such a way could
lead to the intimidation e.g. large numbers of police.
Traditional Leaders
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The role of traditional leadership in the politics of
Zimbabwe remains a highly contested terrain. It is
therefore recommended that traditional leaders
remain apolitical and should embrace all their
subjects regardless of their political persuasion.
External /Diaspora Voters
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It is recommended that the Electoral Commission be
given the power to establish a system that allows
Zimbabweans living outside the country [diaspora] to
vote by post if they are unable to return to Zimbabwe
to cast their votes.
Assisted Voters
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Election agents
stations and to observe the counting of votes.
The accreditation of observers must be left to the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; there should be
no governmental interference.
International observation of elections must be
encouraged.
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It is recommended that only a trusted friend or
relative of the voter’s choice be allowed to render
assistance in order to safeguard the secrecy of their
ballot and avoid intimidation.
Police officers must not be involved.
CONCLUSION
The period under the Global Political Agreement gives
Zimbabwe a unique opportunity to effectively deal with
electoral reform and ensure a conducive environment and
conditions that guarantee respect for the will of the people
before the next election. Timing of next election – vis a vis
adequate time for preparations- new changes, conducive
environment?
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