18 · · · · · 66% believe that the election rules are inadequate as opposed to 8% who believe the opposite. 59% believe that voter information is inadequate as opposed to 12% who believe that it is adequate. 62% believe that they is little participation outside of elections as opposed to 15% who believe the opposite. 34% versus 26% believe the outcome of the elections 67% versus 9% say that the funding of elections is insufficient to meet the needs of extensive and equal popular control. The margins of difference are large, generally in the order of 40 percentage points on average. The youth clearly have a very negative view of elections in Zimbabwe, which is strongly supported by all the independent evidence and the number of election petitions mounted in the wake of elections. The general consensus during the workshops was that Zimbabweans have been the recipients of two seriously flawed elections. Their analysis was very interesting. As they stated in the workshops, constituencies generally have candidates imposed on them by political parties; the people are not involved in primary elections at the initial stages; and they are invariably told for whom they must vote. In most elections people are not voting for the person to represent them, but are voting for a particular party. This is not limited to the ruling party only, as the opposition does this as well. This demonstrates the way in which the political space in Zimbabwe has been wholly polarised, but also reflects the kind of “commandist” politics to which Zimbabweans have become used. The political leaders exploit the ignorance of the people about their choice and rights, and this was said to be unacceptable. There is lack of information about the different choices of both the parties and the candidates they will be proposing. “During elections”, stated one young man, “we hear about the manifestos, but we never see them, be it the ruling party or the opposition party one. “What is in these documents and why do the political leaders not translate it into the vernacular and distribute it to all corners of the country to enable us to vote for the party and person who best serves our purposes?” The youth thus state that elections are inadequate because they do not accurately reflect the views of the people. As is mentioned above, there is very little information on the party and the candidate; voters are coerced into voting for a particular party not because that is the best party to serve the nation’s needs but because it serves the needs of the leaders. The youth have stated that they are tired of being used by politicians during elections. They are used to campaign, and campaigning means forcing people to go to rallies by going door to door, beating up those that resist, beating up those that are not from one’s own party, and giving the illiterate and the elderly inaccurate information on the voting process. They stated that, since 2000, the majority of people have voted out of fear and intimidation, particularly in the rural areas. The issue of fear again arises, as people are afraid to vote for their choice as they have been threatened and will be punished for doing so. In most cases the youth that are used to campaign do not themselves vote. You fail to exercise your own rights in order to advance another person who may or may not give you a few dollars for your efforts and forgets about you until the next election. The youth felt that the levels of corruption and selfishness were alarming, and the extent that political leaders were willing to go to secure a vote was shocking. They felt that there was no transparency and fairness in elections, so the expected outcomes of elections do not materialise. It was said that there is no point in voting if the situation remains as it is. Drastic changes are required, starting with the electoral IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.