ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe various issues pertaining to elections. At the community level, other CSOs, particularly Residents Associations such as United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust (UMRRT), Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance(MURRA), Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) now Chitungwiza and Manyame Rural Residents Association(CAMERA), and Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), engaged local authority candidates and presented citizens manifestos and expectations to aspiring candidates. YETT engaged first time voters, and the ERC conducted a number of radio programmes. came up with a discourse of 'thinking theology' project and established a radio dialogue slot to engage the nation at large on the best possible means to combat election violence. The radio platform paved way for engagement with the youth, religious institutions or leaders of various congregations on the discussion forum on prevention of electoral violence. These, among other efforts, contributed to creating a more peaceful environment for the 2018 elections. The ZEC further accredited domestic observer groups to observe the election day processes on 30 July 2018. CSOs participated in all aspects of the electoral process of the 2018 elections with the presence of domestic observers in over half of the polling stations on Election Day. The list included ZESN which deployed 7 240 observers, the CCJP and the Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) deployed 700 observers, the ZCC deployed 300 observers who observed in Harare and surrounding areas, and the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) deployed 364 local observers to cover the various sampled polling stations and others. Observation and monitoring of electoral processes play an important role in safeguarding election integrity. There are a number of CSOs that monitor, document, and report on election issues to promote transparency, accountability and strengthen the democratic process. In the 2018 harmonised elections, CSOs such as the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), Heal Zimbabwe Trust, Counselling Services Unit (CSU), NGO Forum, Habakkuk in partnership with Masakheneni Trust, and others deployed long term monitors to monitor the political environment before and after the elections. 11.1 The CSO Election Situation Room In spite of the funding challenges to comprehensively deploy observers in these elections, two months before the harmonised elections, the CSOs working on elections established the Election Situation Room (ESR) project. The main objective of the ESR was to enhance coordinated and effective information sharing of electoral processes to promote free, fair, and credible electoral processes in Zimbabwe. CSOs were also actively involved in the promotion of peace and in denouncing violence ahead of the elections. For example, the Union for Development of the Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA) created Peace Committees which encouraged church leaders to conduct sermons of peace in supporting the Zimbabwean peace process. The Peace Committees cut across provinces so as to cover a greater part of the nation. They also established youth committees for the youth to target issues around promotion of peace. In an effort to mitigate political violence, the ZCC established what are known as “monitoring personnel”. The monitoring personnel were deployed in areas with a known history of violence and also polling stations in respective constituencies to report and quickly detect centres that needed immediate intervention. The umbrella body, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) Members of the CSOs were strategically identified from the broader Zimbabwean civil society landscape. ZESN was the convener of this project. The project enhanced monitoring of the political environment and rapid response to and advocacy around challenges during the pre-election, election day and post-election periods of the 2018 harmonised elections. Through this initiative, CSOs working on elections, governance and human rights issues were able to work together, coordinate their efforts and collect, share and 47 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN