This is probably indicative of the fact that these three western provinces are the most highly affected by diasporisation: those registered to vote are no longer resident. With the opposition’s support base increasingly centered in these three western provinces, low voter turnouts here pose a particular challenge in relation to ever winning the presidential vote in the future. While the opposition might gain among the greatest proportion of votes here, gauged as a percentage of total vote in each province, in national terms the Matabeleland vote is increasingly insignificant at presidential level. There are almost three times as many voters in the three rural Mashonaland provinces, which are ZANU PF strongholds, as in the three Matabeleland provinces. FIGURE 2:   3. THE DIVIDED OPPOSITION VOTE MATABELELAND ‐ AND BEYOND Contrary to some reports in the media, Matabeleland North and South did not show a convincing swing to ZANU PF in the recent elections.91 An examination of the figures shows that in Matabeleland South, out of 13 seats, 8 were lost to ZANU PF as a result of a divided opposition vote. Ultimately, ZANU PF won all 13 seats in this province. The united opposition vote in the constituencies that the opposition ‘lost’ in Matabeleland averaged                                                              91 The Chronicle, “Mat South in change of heart towards Zanu‐ PF”, Bulawayo, 3 August 2013. Southern Eye, “Has Matabeleland fallen in love with Zanu PF?” Bulawayo, 4 August 2013.   36