processes. Some of the Constituencies reported incidents which pointed towards the unpreparedness of the electoral management body for instance, pictures on ballot papers were not clearly visible, failure to establish some polling stations, redirection of voters to new polling stations on Election Day and turning away of voters who confirmed that their names were on the voters roll during the inspection period but were missing on election day. 4.2 Polling Day Procedures The polling stations observed by the ZHRC commenced the process on time, opening at 7am and closing at 7pm. Polling procedures were appropriately adhered to and the polling officials had clearly marked designation badges and regalia. ZHRC noted long queues at most polling stations visible in the morning and becoming shorter around late afternoon towards closing of the polling station. By closing time there were no voters waiting to cast their votes at most polling stations. No incidences of violence were noted on the election day. ZHRC noted that ZEC involved Special Interest Groups, such as Persons with Disabilities, the elderly, women and youth in their processes. ZHRC was informed that ZEC recruited Persons with Disabilities as Voter Educators and polling officers. ZHRC observed on polling day that preferential treatment to vote was afforded to pregnant women, nursing mothers, the elderly and Persons with Disabilities. Moreover, the ZHRC observed at majority of the polling stations that more women than men were recruited as polling officers although Presiding Officers upwards were mostly male. A challenge faced by voters at locations with more than one polling station was the complicated labelling or naming of some of the polling stations. Whilst voters received messages on their mobile phones with information on the polling stations, on arrival it was not very clear which queue to join. At some polling stations, such as in the Gweru Urban Constituency, instead of simple sequential alphabetical order i.e. A, B, C, D most polling stations would be labelled A, AA, AB, BA which made it difficult for some voters to identify their specific polling station. In turn this slowed down the process as election officials had to check thoroughly on the voters’ roll before confirming the voter’s name, turning away or redirecting them to their appropriate polling station. Page 38 of 55