election. It is possibly more commonly the elderly and the visually or physically challenged who need assistance. FIGURE 4: It is not possible to compare assisted voting numbers with those of previous elections, as these have not been recorded in the past either by civics or by ZEC in their formal reporting. When statements are made that this election saw high numbers of assisted votes compared to previous elections, it is unclear on what basis such assumptions are being made, as there simply are no baseline figures in the public domain. There have been repeated references in the media that in a certain constituency, or constituencies, there were 10,000 or more assisted votes, but the place/s where this allegedly happened have not been named.99 While 2013 figures for assisted votes are generally considerably below the illiteracy rates, the devil is in the detail here, as there are convincing reports of fully literate individuals being forced to declare themselves illiterate and to vote with the                                                              99 Brian Chitemba, “ ‘I’m ready to engage with Mugabe’: MDC‐T leader opens up on recent polls, future”, Zimbabwe Independent, September 20‐26, 2013. Tsvangirai is quoted as referring to 17,000 assisted votes in one constituency, which he does not name. The British Ambassador was quoted, and criticized, in the media for claiming a constituency where 10,000 or more assisted votes were made, but could not name it.   40