respected”17 The Commonwealth Observer Mission’s report state that the state broadcaster; the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) had “a patent tilt in coverage in favour of the governing party.” Social media Social media channels played an important role in the dissemination of opinions and information during the 2018 election campaign. However, hate speech and abusive language proliferated on social media during the campaign; much of it directed at women for instance the heckling of Thokozani Khupe the Presidential candidate for MDC-T and ZEC Commissioner Justice Priscilla Chigumba. Freedom of expression and of the media Section 61 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and of the media. Journalists were threatened and assaulted during the scope of their employment. The following are some of the documented cases by MISA on violation of freedom of the media. ▪ On 14 May 2018, Tawanda Mudimu, a photographer with The Herald was manhandled by MDC-A supporters while covering a demonstration at the party’s headquarters in Harare. ▪ On 26 June, Miriam Mangwaya, a reporter with The Mirror was harassed by a ZANU PF youth while traveling from the burial of Chief Hama in Chirumanzu district. Postal voting Section 72 of the Electoral Act states that registered voters located outside Zimbabwe on government duty and their spouses are eligible to vote by post. If they wished to do so, they must have sent an application for a postal ballot paper to the Chief Elections Officer. The deadline for returning postal vote ballots was July 16, 2018. Postal ballots would then be counted together with ballots cast on July 30, 2018. 17 EOEOM, Preliminary statement on Zimbabwe harmonised elections, 01 August 2018,https://eeas.europa.eu/election-observation-missions/eom-zimbabwe-2018/49034/preliminarystatement-eueom-zimbabwe-2018-harmonised-elections_en 23