electoral processes. Furthermore, transparency of the electoral process was compromised by the manner in which ZEC managed ballot papers procurement, design and printing and packaging, 1 transmission and announcement of results.” These violations were confirmed by the ZHRC which reported that: “The 2018 elections brought about some improvements compared to past elections. In as much as the Commission appreciated that the electoral environment up to election time was generally peaceful, it was however concerned by the rise in complaints it received, predominantly relating to voter intimidation and vote buying disguised as distribution of food aid and Presidential Farming Inputs. These incidents instilled fear in the electorate and risked the manipulation of the secrecy of the ballot, thus, infringing the citizens’ freedom to select candidates of their choice.” 2 Free, Fair and Credible Elections For the first time in years, western election observers, including the European Union, were invited to observe the Zimbabwe elections. More than 46 countries and 15 international organisations were invited to observe the elections, and ZEC successfully accredited 1,209 foreign election observers and journalists. Most international and local independent observers concluded that the harmonised elections were largely free of violence but did not meet the mark for a credible election. Political parties and civil society organisations lamented disenfranchisement of certain classes of citizens, an unlevel playing field and biased state media in favour of the incumbent ZANUPF party. Intimidation was widespread, especially in the rural areas, with voters being asked for their registration slips by ZANU-PF functionaries and traditional leaders. This was confirmed by an investigation by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), after complaints of alleged forceful collection of voterregistration slips serial numbers from community members in rural Marondera, Bocha, Marange and Mutasa Districts. The ZHRC said: “Political intimidation and electoral malpractices continue unabated in Zimbabwe. This is largely due to the fact that most leaders at national and local levels lack political will to deal with political violations decisively.” ZEC condemned the practice and said it amounted to intimidation. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) reported that “the integrity of the 2018 harmonised elections was undermined by an uneven pre-election playing field. Some of the actions which marred the electoral process include widespread intimidation of registrants by political actors who claimed to be able to track individual voting preferences of registrants whose registration slip serial numbers they had recorded. In addition, the partisan role of some traditional leaders who openly engaged in partisan politics, the partisan distribution of food aid, the use of state resources in campaigns, biased reporting by the public media, and the rather ineffective stakeholder engagement by the Commission also marred the Electoral Reforms A new voters’ roll was used for the elections following the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system that was used for the first time in the electoral process in Zimbabwe. Despite challenges that included miscommunication and confusion about BVR registration dates, the location of registration centres, and BVR system registration requirements; misinformation and the intimidation of registrants by political actors; power challenges affecting the solar powered kits in a cloudy and rainy season; malfunctioning of kits, among others, ZEC managed to register a 1. Page 71 2. ZHRC 2018 Harmonised Election Report 6 STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ZIMBABWE 2018