Human Rights Archive Zimbabwe

Democratic free and fair elections are an integral component of international human rights law as recognised at the apex of the Human Rights system in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration).

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) monitored the human rights situation prior to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) primary elections that had been initially scheduled for 17 May 2018.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) monitored the human rights situation during the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) primary elections conducted on 29 April 2018. The aim of these elections were to select candidates to represent the party in national elections in the categories of Council, National Assembly, Senate and Provincial Council.

Report on the Bikita By-Election

The report highlights the findings of the ZHRC before, during and after the elections and the ZHRC’s own observations.

Complaints of alleged forceful collection of serial numbers from community members in Marondera Rural (Rapids Farm), in Bocha Marange and Mutasa Districts of Manicaland Province were lodged with the ZHRC.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) monitored and assessed the 2018 harmonized elections held on the 30th of July 2018. The primary objective was to ensure that the elections were conducted freely and fairly in accordance with national legal frameworks, and regional and international instruments that advance the observance and respect for human rights and freedoms of all citizens.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC/Commission) joins the nation and other peace loving Zimbabweans in condemning, in the strongest sense, the use of live ammunition and excessive force on unarmed protesting citizens by the army on 1 August 2018.

The Commission issued its preliminary election monitoring report on the 2nd of August 2018 covering the period up to 31 July 2018. This statement is therefore a summary of findings on the election related human rights situation by the ZHRC in the period from 1 August to 6 August 2018.

This report is based on the information received from the monitors deployed across the country and from complaints received.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC/Commission), in line with its monitoring mandate as provided for in Section 243(1)(c) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, deployed monitors throughout the country’s 10 Provinces. The monitoring activities which have been undertaken by the ZHRC project a holistic picture of the electoral environment

Veritas notes that when giving evidence before the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence of 1st August, our Attorney-General, Prince Machaya, was absolutely clear on the correct legal position of who can deploy the army onto the streets.

Detailed information about the Commission of Inquiry was given in our Commissions Watch bulletin dated 25th September 2018 [link]. Its terms of reference are set out in full in the Presidential proclamation appointing the Commission

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has released a series of reports about politically partisan distribution of food and other State aid before and after polling in the 30th July election.

On the 14th September the President published a proclamation (No 6 of 2018) establishing the Commission [The proclamation can be viewed on the Veritas website – link] and the seven Commissioners were sworn in on the 19th September.

The Commission deployed a total of 23 teams spread across the 10 Provinces of Zimbabwe. The monitors were able to collect information which forms part of this preliminary report.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) advises all stakeholders that it has deployed election monitors in all parts of the country, with effect from 23 July to 6 August 2018, to monitor the Harmonised Elections scheduled for 30 July 2018 as well as the post-election

CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE IN ZIMBABWE ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT FOR 2018 ZIMBABWE HARMONIZED ELECTIONS

Pastoral Letter of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference on the National Elections of 30 July 2018.

Pastoral letter of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops on Preparing for the Zimbabwe 2018 National Elections.

ZCBC Pastoral Letter on July Elections , Shona Version

The ESN-SA deployed a 23 member Mission from Zimbabwe and the region (Southern and East Africa). The Mission observed the last stages of the pre-election period, Election Day, and immediate post-election. The ESN-SA, met civil society, political parties, the Electoral Commission, other observer missions, the Police and other stakeholders for briefings on the pre-election environment.

STATEMENT BY THE HONOURABLE TETE ANTONIO, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA AND HEAD OF THE SADC ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION (SEOM) TO THE 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE.

This report presents ZESN’s observations of each sector of the electoral cycle: the pre-election, the polling, and the post-election periods.

Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections were the first to be observed by the Commonwealth in 16 years. The Commonwealth last observed Zimbabwe’s 2002 Presidential Election. As such, this observation mission provided a unique opportunity to accompany Zimbabwe on a critical leg of its democratic journey.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) organized the Zimbabwe International Election Observation Mission (ZIEOM) for the 2018 Zimbabwe presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections (referred to locally as “harmonized” elections).

The data collected reported six hundred and eighty eight human rights violations, which have been incorporated into the Shutdown Atrocities Report of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (of which ZPP is member).

The report is a reflection of the monitoring and observation of the 2018 electoral process by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum).

In the period leading up to elections violence, threats and intimidation were used extensively to coerce voters. Politicians of the ruling party and their supporters made statements indicating that the ballot would not be secret and that reprisals would be taken if people voted in certain ways.

There is a clear difference between the electoral climate preceding the current 2005 parliamentary elections on the one hand and the previous parliamentary elections of 2000 and presidential elections of 2002 on the other. The latter elections were characterised by an intense interest and excitement amongst Zimbabwean voters.

This report considers the actual period of voting and the first one hundred days thereafter.

As Zimbabwe moves towards the holding of a general election, which, according to President Mugabe, will be held in May 2000, the political situation has become increasingly troubled and violent. There have been violent clashes between supporters of the ruling party, ZANU (PF) and the main political opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

This report is a follow-up to “Who is Responsible?: A preliminary analysis of pre-election violence in Zimbabwe”, which was released in June 2000 by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. It sought to catalog emerging allegations of gross human rights violations committed during the run-up period to the June 2000 Parliamentary Elections and aimed to establish certain facts about the nature of political violence during that time.

This document, and the factual assertions herein, is based on reports of the ensuing violence received from civic organisations and those published in the press.

This briefing paper describes the pre-election environment in Zimbabwe and concludes it is not possible to hold free and fair elections under the prevailing conditions.

The aim of this report is to provide succinct coverage of the election that brought the GPA to a close and also provide some pointers to the future of Zimbabwean politics.

The 2008 Harmonised Election in Zimbabwe was arguably the most historic of the post-independence elections, as for the first time in the last 28 years the ruling party lost its parliamentary majority and the President lost the first round of the Presidential election. This result represented the culmination of a decade of political and civic opposition to a former liberation party whose legitimacy has been greatly eroded by nearly three decades of intolerant rule.

The analysis in this Report is based on the data contained in the Monthly Violence Reports of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. Since July 2001, the Forum has been reporting monthly totals of cases of organised violence and torture.

The mission observed that the degree of human rights violations in the country follows a recurring pattern that usually culminates during electoral periods. The country was facing a political deadlock where the leading parties, especially ZANU-PF, were unlikely to reach any agreement likely to improve the political environment, since the MDC considered the implementation of the reforms foreseen by the GPA as a pre-condition for the organisation of elections, while ZANU-PF called for elections as a means to put an end to the prevailing deadlock.

THIS REPORT COVERS ALL THE REPORTS RECEIVED BY THE NCA DURING THE PRE ELECTION PERIOD (FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2005), THESE BEING FROM ALL PROVINCES EXCEPT MANICALAND COVERING 105 CONSTITUENCIES. A TOTAL OF 383 REPORTS WERE SUBMITTED, WITH AN AVERAGE OF 3 REPORTS PER CONSTITUENCY.

This report covers all the reports received by the NCA for February 2005, coming from 8 Provinces, and 56 Constituencies. It summarises the position that pertained during the last 2 weeks of February. Unfortunately, no data had been submitted from either Manicaland or Mashonaland West by the time of writing, but it is submitted that the data nonetheless do give a good overview of the national picture in February 2005.

In Zimbabwe, in the past five years, elections have been elevated to the only constitutive principle for determining legitimacy, aided considerably by the position of the African nations, and South Africa in particular.

On March 29, 2008, Zimbabweans will participate in presidential, parliamentary, senatorial, and local government elections synchronized for the first time, following changes to Zimbabwe’s constitution in September 2007. As the elections near, all indications are that once again the people of Zimbabwe will not be able to freely exercise their civil and political rights and vote for the candidates of their choice.

This report assesses the legislative and electoral reforms undertaken by the unity government and analyzes the quality of those reforms and their capacity to create an environment conducive to credible, free and fair elections. Human Rights Watch has found that the contending parties have focused on only one aspect of reforms—securing agreement on the necessary legal and administrative requirements for free and fair elections.

This report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch in Zimbabwe’s Harare, Bulawayo, the Midlands, Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Central and West provinces in November and December 2012, and in February 2013. The report illustrates how the partisanship of the security forces’ leadership has translated into abuses by these forces against the MDC and civil society organizations across the country and in political interference.

Human Rights Watch calls on SADC member states to urge the government of Zimbabwe to ensure that in the days remaining before the election, efforts are made to guarantee that all candidates are able to campaign freely and openly throughout Zimbabwe, that all candidates have access to the media, that journalists and observers are allowed to observe the election process in all areas of the country, and that voters are allowed to choose a candidate and vote in an environment free of intimidation.

This report, based on investigations in Zimbabwe, describes the scale of the abuses and identifies those responsible—officials from ZANU-PF, often working through proxy forces of so-called war veterans and youth militia, backed by members of the armed forces and police. Local institutions have identified at least 2,000 beatings and cases of torture.

Violence and other forms of violations are expected to be less in Chimanimani West comparatively to the 2008 and 2013 cases. However, it is worrying that unorthodox covert means can be used by the ruling party in a bid to win the elections while in the process violating the people’s right to vote peacefully.

Amnesty International has concluded from its inquiries that there is evidence that the Government of Zimbabwe is either instigating or acquiescing in serious violations of human rights including extrajudicial executions, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Amnesty International researchers have been monitoring the human rights environment in Zimbabwe as the country approaches the 31 March parliamentary elections. Although there are fewer reports of politically-motivated violence than has been the case in previous elections, Amnesty International is concerned that human rights are being systematically violated in the context of election campaigning.

This monograph is based on detailed observation of the election petitions held in the High Court of Zimbabwe, as well as testimonies available from victims seen during the General Election and the subsequent bye-elections. A team of researchers attended all the court hearings, making notes of all proceedings, as well as studying the case notes held by the AMANI Trust and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.

This present monograph concentrates upon the human rights violations that took place during the bye-elections that took place in 2000 and 2001. None of these bye-elections came about as a result of the election petitions, as all those cases decided were immediately appealed and are still pending in the Supreme Court. All the bye-elections took place due to the death of the incumbent. Zanu(PF) won all these elections, amidst continued allegations of gross human rights violations and electoral irregularities.

This monograph focuses on the electoral irregularities, including gross human rights abuses, during the period preceding the June 2000 Parliamentary elections. This election marked the first time a strong opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had challenged the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu (PF)) in the political arena.

State organized violence increased following the rejection of the Government sponsored constitution in the referendum at the beginning 2000. The violence was initially sporadic and confined to one or two areas at a time but as the 2000 parliamentary elections approached, it became more intense and widespread. The state trained and deployed more people in an effort to control perceived supporters of the newly formed opposition.

The report Focuses on the 30 July 2018 Harmonized elections whereby the EU says the elections were competitive, the campaign was largely peaceful and, overall, political freedoms during the campaign, including freedom of movement, assembly and speech, were respected. However, the misuse of state resources, instances of coercion and intimidation, partisan behavior by traditional leaders and overt bias in state media, all in favor of the ruling party, meant that a truly level playing field was not achieved, which negatively impacted on the democratic character of the electoral environment.

Regulations made by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission updated to incorporate all amendments until 8 June 2018.

This is an update to the report published by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) on the 15th of August 2018. It captures the reports documented by members of the Forum from 1 to 31 August 2018. A total of 274 violations have been documented in this period.

This report is a follow-up to the preliminary report produced by the Women’s Trust (TWT) and the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) in early 2014 on the effectiveness of the SiMuka! Zimbabwe, Woman, Get Counted! Register to Vote! in getting women to register to vote and to vote. This report goes further to note that whilst it is encouraging to see women turn out to vote in elections, and even more gratifying to see that the turn out can be strongly increased by woman to woman advocacy, there is always need to conduct a reality check on the actual process of the election and its outcome.

This is the second report on an audit of the June 2013 Voters’ Roll. It expands on the previous report, provides a more detailed analysis of the Roll, and corrects a number of minor errors.

This is an application for a declaratory order in the terms set out in the draft order, particularly that in terms of section 156 (a) and section 239 (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and section 3 of the Electoral Act the First Respondent has an obligation to conduct an election transparently and in terms of section 3 (2) (g) and section 233 (d) of the Constitution which require the First Respondent to promote transparency in all its operations.

This section will discusses issues related to the monitoring technologies used in the creation of the voter list, irrespective of whether the creation will be a one-time occurrence or continuous or periodic exercise, or whether it will be a voter-initiated or state initiated process. What they all have in common is that the voters' data are not immediately recorded as electronic records in a central voter registration database and that fairly complex and sensitive operations must be used to collect and process these data.

The Report talks about how Civic education offers information and/or educational programmes designed to increase the comprehension and knowledge of civil rights and responsibilities and how Non-partisan voter education should aim to inform voters as to the ‘who, what, where, when and how’ of registration and voting.

This report emphasizes on the Voter registration and the General International Obligations that affect Voter registration which are, The Right to Vote and The State must take necessary steps to give effects to rights.

The petitioners beseech the Parliament of Zimbabwe to implore the Executive to uphold the Constitution by ensuring that Zimbabwe’s Electoral Law is reviewed in compliance not only with their undertakings, but also with the provisions of the Constitution and that a legal framework is put in place that guarantees an undisputed electoral process.

Non-partisan citizen election observers and monitors can be considered as specialized human rights defenders focused on civil and political rights, which are central to achieving genuine elections.

Slides on what to look for in BVR

Slides on Voter registration and Political Commitments

These revised Commonwealth Guidelines for the Conduct of Election Observation adopt best practice, as also reflected in the Declaration of Principles on International Election Observation, and will ensure the on-going integrity, value and impact of Commonwealth observer missions as they continue to support the strengthening of electoral democracy and the political rights of Commonwealth citizens.

This dispatch reports results from a survey of public opinion on the status of the electoral race conducted one month before the day of voting with a representative sample of 2,400 voting-age adults drawn from all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. The survey was commissioned by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Afro-barometer's core partner in Southern Africa, and implemented by the Mass Public Opinion Institute, Afro-barometer's national partner in Zimbabwe.

The political context of Zimbabwe and a report on Biometric Voter Registration (BVR):A National and Matabeleland Perspective.The report highlights factionalism in ZANU PF which led to then Vice President E.D Mnangagwa being fired and the stepping down of R.G Mugabe.

The report has information about election campaigns by various parties as well as the election results. It also consists of the incidents of the day after the elections.

Heal Zimbabwe monitored the electoral environment and the 21 January 2017 by election in Bikita West. To increase efficiency and effectiveness in doing so, a collaboration with the Elections Resource Centre (ERC) and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) was forged in the run up to the Election Day.

The Mwenezi East by-election was necessitated by the death of Honourable Joshua Moyo hence was implemented according to Section 159 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and declared so through Section 39 of the Electoral Act, which mandates the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to conduct a by-election within 90 days after the vacancy is declared. 8 April 2017 was set by the President as the date of the by-election.

Heal Zimbabwe through its resident human rights monitors in all the country’s 10 provinces monitored the environment during the mobile voter registration exercise. This was done with the objective of monitoring the environment and report on any cases of human rights violations as well as making referrals where necessary for redress.

This Application challenged the results of the presidential election announced irregularly by the 23rd and 24th respondents on the 3rd day of August 2018. It also challenged the declaration by the 23rd respondent that 1st respondent ids the duly elected presidential candidate for the presidential for the presidential election that took place on the 30th day of July 2018.

SADC electoral Observation Mission to the Republic of Zimbabwe Preliminary statement by his Excellency Manuel Domingos Augusto.

E.D Mnangagwa Urges the court to dismiss Chamisa's application as there was no valid challenge to his election.

The Affidavit stated that, No valid application has been filed by the applicant challenging the election of the 1st respondent to the office of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, in terms of s93 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe as read with the Constitutional Court Rules, 2016.

Malaba CJ's decision stated that,This is the unanimous judgment of the Court. It must be noted that it, however, does not contain the full reasons thereof. These will be issued in due course.

Success of the BVR process hinged on timeous finalization of requisite processes.

Lessons from Kenya on mass Biometric Voter Registration.

CSOS call for Comprehensive reforms to ensure Democratic Elections.

Contestants call for peaceful participation in Norton By-election.

New Amendments to the electoral Act falls short of expectations.

ZEC hold Crucial all stakeholder Conference on Voter Registration.

Lessons from uganda on deployment of Biometric voter registration.

Police raids Civic Society organisations in Zimbabwe. They started with Zimbabwe Peace Project then they went on to raid the ZESN head office in Harare.

The Bulletin Stated that contesting for Elections is expensive in Zimbabwe making it essential that Political parties have funding for them to take part in the polls.

Progress and Gaps as Zimbabwe headed for elections in 2012.

ZESN analysis of the 2013 Elections

The Pros and Cons of Devolution:Can it Work in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe not ready for Elections says UN

In Zimbabwe it has been noted that threats and intimidation have been and are still to bring about certain electoral outcomes.

This issue seeks to continue with the debate and discussions on some interpretations, implications, and prospects towards the 2008 elections in particular on the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 18. The issue looks at various aspects like the voter registration, which make up the fundamental aspects of a free and fair election.

ZESN has been closely tracking developments related to the ongoing inspection of the Provisional Voters’ Roll (PVR) exercise which commenced on 19 May 2018 and scheduled to end on 29 May 2018.

This update is based on reports from ZESN’s mobile and static observers who were deployed at selected mop up, district and provincial registration centres countrywide. ZESN deployed a total of 263 static observers for the mop up exercise.

This update is based on reports from ZESN’s mobile and static observers who have been deployed at selected mop up, district and provincial registration centres countrywide.

This update is based on reports from ZESN’s mobile and static observers who have been deployed at selected registration centres countrywide.

The following are highlights of reports from ZESN’s mobile and static observers that have been deployed to some of the registration centers countrywide.

The Biometric Voter registration (BVR) Blitz which commenced on 10 October 2017 came to an end on 19 December 2017. Following pleas by electoral stakeholders, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced that a mop up of the voter registration would be done over a 30 day period from 10 January to 8 February 2018.

This update is based on observations made during the last 7 days of the blitz and is informed by reports from ZESN static and mobile observer teams.

ZESN received reports of a significant number of voter registration centres that ran out of the print roll used for issuing voter registration slips to successful registrants.

ZESN continues to observe the (Biometric Voter Registration) BVR blitz which entered the fourth and last phase on 4 December until 19 December 2017. At the conclusion of Phase 3, ZEC indicated that a total of 3,532,577 had been registered cumulatively from Phase 1.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe Phase 3 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise which commenced on, 16 November 2017 and will end on 1 December 2017.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) concluded phase 2 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) blitz on Monday 13 November 2017. Phase 3 of the blitz commenced yesterday, 16 November 2017 and was marred by a few challenges which include; destruction of registration tents by heavy rains and failure to open some of the registration centres owing to late arrival of either ZEC registration officers or equipment.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe Phase 2 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise in all the country’s 10 provinces. The following update is based on observations made over the past 7 days.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) is observing Phase 2 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise which commenced on 29 October 2017.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise. This update is based on observations by ZESN observers deployed to cover all the wards under Phase One.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe Phase One of the Biometric Voter Registration exercise in all 10 provinces of the country. There are six days left before the close of voter registration under Phase One.

ZESN has deployed observers under the first phase of the Biometric Voter Registration blitz and this update is based on reports received from all the 10 provinces where registration is currently taking place.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) commenced the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) for the Wards which fall under Phase 1 yesterday. ZEC intends to roll out the process in four phases until 19 December 2017.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise at the 63 District centers established by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) welcomes the commencement of the Biometric Voter Registration exercise at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) district offices. The rolling out of the registration exercise at district level facilitates the continuous registration of voters as stipulated by the law.

The March 2002 presidential election was preceded by months of intensive violence and intimidation against MDC supporters, and more than 50 people, mostly opposition supporters, were killed. President Mugabe was declared the winner over challenger Morgan Tsvangirai by a 56% to 42% margin. Most international observers condemned the election as seriously flawed--the pre-election environment was neither free nor fair, and the election itself was marred by significant fraud and rigging--but regional opinions were mixed.

On 31 July 2013 Zimbabwe held harmonised elections for the Presidency, the National Assembly, the Senate and local authorities. ZESN deployed 7 099 observers to every province and constituency in the country on 31 July 2013, set at the ‘Election Day’. Reports from observers during the election and throughout the entire process, demonstrated that the credibility of the 2013 harmonised elections was compromised by a systematic effort to disenfranchise many voters.

The by elections were characterized by a decrease in voter turnout as shown by the turnout compared to the number of registered voters in the wards. A new political player in the form of the newly formed NCA took part in the elections. ZANU PF and the MDC T contested and there was the notable absence of the MDC.

ZESN continues to be concerned by the unusually high number of people that request assistance when intending to cast their vote. ZESN urges the Commission to develop inexpensive mechanisms to document the literacy levels of voters when voters present themselves for registration at voter registration centres.

The seat fell vacant following the death on 5 October, 2015 of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) incumbent for Nkulumane constituency Honorable ThamsanqaMahlangu. ZESN deployed 14 observers comprising static (polling station based observers), constituency and mobile observers to measure compliance with regards to the Constitution and electoral laws as well as to identify gaps in the electoral practice to enable informed advocacy interventions for electoral reforms.

The by-election was necessitated by the fact that ZANU-PF invoked section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution which states that a Member of Parliament’s (MP) seat becomes vacant when the MP ceases to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker of Parliament, or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, informs parliament of the same.

The seats fell vacant following the death on 9 June, 2015 of the ZANU-PF incumbent for Epworth constituency, Ambassador Amos Midzi; and the expulsion from ZANU-PF and subsequent recalling from Parliament of Ray Kaukonde and David Butau, former Members of Parliament for Marondera Central and Mbire respectively.

President Mugabe set 15 July 2017 as the date for the Chiwundura National Assembly by election in accordance with Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13). The seat fell vacant following the death of the National Assembly representative for the Constituency; Mr Kizito Chivamba, who died on 19 April 2017 following a short illness.

This report details the Zimbabwe Election Support Network’s (ZESN) observations of the Mutoko North Constituency National Assembly and the Chegutu East ward 16 by-elections.

This report presents ZESN's observations of each sector of the electoral cycle: the pre-election, the polling, and the post-election periods. The observations were gathered through the deployment of 7240 trained observers.

The paper suggests ways of increasing women's participation in local government, parliament and senate.

This is a comprehensive analysis and documentation of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network’s (ZESN’s) observation of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) process in Zimbabwe. It covers all the critical moments of the BVR process from its inauguration and inception in September 2017 to completion of the extended BVR Blitz exercise in February 2018.

The findings in this report are primarily informed by the Long Term Observers (LTOs) that ZESN deployed to the National Assembly Constituencies throughout the country. ZESN deployed 210 LTOs to track political developments in all the National Assembly Constituencies in Zimbabwe. During the Inspection of the provisional voters’ roll, ZESN deployed LTOs who visited 693 Inspection Centres (ICs) across the country during the inspection and making 909 visits in total during the process.

This report is based on observations made by the LTOs between 18 May and 07 July 2018 in their respective constituencies from across the country’s 10 provinces. However ZESN produced several thematic reports during the same reporting period, including a report inspection of the voters’ roll, the nomination court, and primary elections for political parties.

The ten files in total contained ZEC Presidential Results by Polling Station. These files contain presidential results information for 10,984 polling stations. The files are not without errors. Analysis of the results for the parliamentary elections and the presidential elections does not show significant discrepancies.

On Election Day, ZESN issued a pre-election assessment statement, mid-day statement, and a report on projections of presidential election results based on its Sample Based Observation methodology. ZESN LTOs have been observing the post-election environment processes in their respective constituencies and this report is based on post election observations.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe the pre-election environment and key electoral processes in Mutoko North constituency ahead of the byelection set for Saturday 24 November 2018. This Long Term Observers’ (LTOs) report covers the period from 28 October to 10 November 2018.

The ZESN conducted an audit of the 2018 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) voters' rolls. The audit was conducted to provide independent non-partisan information on the quality of the 2018 PVR and the 2018 FVR to all stakeholders.

This analysis focuses on the estimated eligible voters per polling station because there is a limit to the number of voters which a polling station can reasonably process in a twelve hour period (7am to 7pm). The analysis also takes into account differences between urban and rural areas. Urban polling stations can generally accommodate more voters than rural polling stations.

Electoral system reform and implications for Gender equality

This is a review by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (“ZESN”) of the proposed amendments to Zimbabwe’s legislation on the management and conduct of elections in the country. The Electoral Amendment Bill, 2011 (hereafter, “the Bill”) seeks to amend the Electoral Act (Chapter 2: 13) (hereafter, “the Act”).

The report is about Managing Election related Conflicts in Zimbabwe. Often some of these conflicts have degenerated into outright physical confrontations in the form of military surges genocides and other forms of physical conflict capable of killing or maiming those caught up in the conflict.

Zimbabwe: A culture of electoral fraud, a paper presented by ZESN at the Zambia SADC Summit 13-14 August 2007.

A report on the National Workshop on Conflict management Mechanism and the Recommendations.

This Report is about special Voting procedures and how Zimbabwe is going to implement them.

Summary of strengths and weaknesses of Electoral Systems and recommendations for further strengthening.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network has proposed a series of further reforms to the electoral laws of Zimbabwe. However while all of these changes should be put in place prior to the holding of impending byelections and the constitutional referendum, time may not allow passage of some of these reforms. Accordingly, this paper seeks to prioritize the reforms that should be adopted, firstly for the by-elections and secondly for the constitutional referendum.

This is a paper on the funding of political parties in Zimbabwe. The financing of political parties is generally considered to be one of the critical factors for the success of multiparty democracy.

Electoral Reform Programs

The month under review saw elections remain high on the political agenda as evidence by various media reports on Zimbabwe’s readiness for elections and the subsequent instruction by President Mugabe to “budget for elections in 2011”. This update is informed by observations from the chosen constituencies and broadly captures national political developments in September 2010.

A report on Opportunity and Risk in the proposed Polling station based Voters' Roll.

Electoral Law must Prohibit state officials' Public statements threatening free and fair elections.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network sent a 15 member mission to observe Zambia‘s tripartite elections held on the 20th of September 2011. The objectives of the mission were multifaceted and included; to observe the Zambia’s electoral processes, to explore and understand civil society initiatives within and around the electoral process.

The publication states that the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and Election Observation Missions (2004) are designed to set out minimum standards that Member Countries should ideally adhere to in the conduct of elections and election observation. The fundamental weakness of the Guidelines is that they do not have full legal force and are not mandatory.

The paper is about broadening and securing postal and special voting. There are ways to vote for persons who cannot be present personally in their constituencies and wards on the designated voting days. The more traditional way is Postal Voting and the second is Special Voting.

ZESN emphasizes on liberalising the broadcast media to assist the voters in making informed decisions.

The report highlights that the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (hereafter, “the Commission”) is a critical issue in the management and conduct of elections. It has the role of the umpire in the elections and for that reason must exercise its powers fairly and impartially treating each contestant equally and without fear or favour.

ZESN is calling for transparency in the various stages of the deployment of BVR system in Zimbabwe. The continued silence regarding the steps being taken in the adoption and implementation of the BVR system apart from print media pronouncements is particularly worrying.

On February 18, Rindai Chipfunde Vava went to Uganda to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections there. This was the first election to be held using the biometric voter registration (BVR) system in Uganda.

ZESN reiterates that the ability to exercise the democratic right to vote is premised on the respect for principles of democratic electoral processes upholding the key tenets of democracy such as inclusivity, comprehensiveness, transparency and accountability.

The purpose of this policy brief is to discuss the timing of the process of delimitation of electoral boundaries. It articulates why it is more desirable to have the delimitation exercise before the 2018 elections.

This report highlights that The process of delimitation of electoral boundaries remains critical to any electoral outcome in Zimbabwe. In the past, this process has not been conducted in a timely and transparent manner.

Delimitation is the process of redistricting of constituencies for the purposes of elections. It divides the country into constituencies and wards for the purposes of elections of persons to constituency seats in the National Assembly and of councillors to local authorities. In Zimbabwe, the process is carried out in terms of sections 160 and 161 of the latest Constitution (2013).

Recently, ZESN observed the Mass Voter Registration process in Kenya, where Kenyans were registering using the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system which Zimbabwe is about to adopt for the 2018 Elections. The learning missions to Kenya was an eye opener especially given that Kenya was doing the BVR exercise for the second time before a major election having done BVR prior to their 2013 elections.

The paper contains the definition of BVR, What BVR is not, Advantages and Risk of BVR as well as ZESN's position on BVR.

This paper contains a framework to guide lobby and advocacy efforts with parliamentarians, policy makers and other critical stakeholders such as ZEC.

There are dislocations between the progressive Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) and the laws that were crafted underthe Lancaster House Constitution, whichthe government of Zimbabwe is reluctant to repeal and replace with democratic legislation. This has perpetuated the restrictive environment within which the Zimbabwean media operates.

This policy brief intends to inform and advise on how to improve transparencyin electoral processes in particular the voter registration, voting and resultsmanagement processes. Transparency is a key principle for credible and democratic elections.

The review is juxtaposing the content of the promulgated regulations against the draft regulations, in light of the submissions made to ZEC by ZESN. More specifically the review analyses the extent to which written recommendations made by ZESN have been incorporated into the promulgated regulations.

A closer scrutiny of this Bill shows that it largely mirrors a law passed a week earlier, through the gazetting of Statutory Instrument (SI) 117/2017, on the 15th of September 2017, through the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act. The Bill is meant to eventually substitute the SI given that laws promulgated via the use of presidential powers do not have shelf life beyond six months.

As Zimbabwe readies itself for the new polling station based and biometric voter registration for the 2018 harmonised elections, it is imperative that efforts and resources are channelled towards ensuring that all eligible voters are registered so that they are able to vote come 2018.

The overarching objective of the report is to provide ZESN and interested stakeholders with ward based comprehensive scientific data on population dynamics for 2018.

The paper has guidelines on what constitutes free and fair elections.

Following several requests by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network ZESN and other stakeholders for Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release data, on the numbers of voters registered disaggregated by province and gender, the ZEC published the Biometric Voter Registration BVR data on its website in March 2018.

On 28 May 2018, another Electoral Amendment Act was passed and the 2018 Election date was announced thereafter. Consequently, as a result of the announcement of the Election day as 30 July 2018, any amendments to the Electoral Act that happen after the proclamation do not apply to the 2018 elections, but other future elections.

Government needs to immediately align all electoral laws with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

ZESN strongly believes that the pathway to the next election should be defined by a comprehensive electoral and political reforms process established and implemented by all key stakeholders.

The Petitioners beseech the Parliament of Zimbabwe to consider and pass the relevant legislation that give life to tenets of the 2013 Constitution.

The harmonised elections set for 31 July 2013 remain perhaps the most significant yet contested polls in the history of Zimbabwe. Not only has the timing of the actual poll been uncertain, but the polls are also approaching at a time when the curtains are coming down on the embattled Inclusive Government (IG) that was akin to a love-hate relationship amongst the three main political parties represented in Parliament.

This report focuses on how Zimbabwe has an unenviable reputation for being the most politically violent country in Southern Africa, certainly since the civil wars ended in Angola and Mozambique, and the independence of Namibia and South Africa.

This briefing paper reviews the political and historical context of the Zimbabwean election with a view of determining the contribution of this past to the electoral outcomes. We hypothesize that the 2018 electoral outcome will be a function of its immediate past and the broader national historical context.

This is the first report by the consortium which covers the period 1 to 9 August 2018. A total of 199 violations were documented from 1 to 9 August 2018.

This report contains the findings of the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) on the Harmonised Elections 2018. The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability.

Zimbabwe held itsnationalelections on the 30th of July 2018. The electoral process was generally peaceful until the 1st of August 2018, when many demonstrators took to the streets of Harare demanding the immediate release of the election results. These events, particularly those that occurred within Harare’s Central Business District (CBD), resulted in the death of six (6) people, injury of thirty-five (35), and massive damage to properties.

This report provides a thorough analysis primarily of the technical aspects of the elections, complementing the observer reports that have been published by other organisations.

In this report for 2008,there are certain trends and characteristics which have been attendant on the incidents reported to the Human rights Forum which rebut the denial of ZANU PF that in most instances the violence that was reported was between over zealous youths and villagers.

On March 29, 2008, Zimbabwe held presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Months later, the country’s political future remains uncertain. For the first time since independence, the ruling party has lost its majority in the National Assembly. After a month of rising tensions, the results of the presidential race were belatedly announced on May 2.

This is the first in the series of Special Reports issued by the Research Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. It displaced the original proposal to deal with gender and constitutional issues. This change was necessitated by the wave of lawlessness which resulted in massive human rights abuses during most of 2000.

The 2005 Parliamentary elections represented an important improvement on the 2000 and 2002 elections in that the elections were performed in a peaceful environment without state-controlled violence. Despite this notable improvement from previous elections, the Parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet some key internationally recognised election standards.

This report outlines the purpose of elections, characteristics of Parliament, electoral system,transitory provisions, general political considerations and conduct of elections. It also showed the distribution of members of the house of assembly according to their professional category, distribution of seats in the senate, distribution of House of Assembly members according to sex and according to age group.