Appendix A 63 IRI-NDI Pre-Election Assessment Mission Statement Zimbabwe 2018 Harmonized Elections November 2017, important rhetorical, symbolic and tangible steps have made the political space more open. Notable improvements include: ● Committing to Credible Elections – President Mnangagwa has publicly and repeatedly committed to holding credible elections. Further, he signed the AU Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (though it still needs to be ratified by parliament). These represent important departures from the past and the conduct of the former president when it came to elections. However, despite the president’s public commitment, some ruling party officials and representatives of state institutions have made statements inconsistent with a genuine commitment to holding credible elections. ● Improvements in the Political Climate – The delegation received messages from Zimbabweans that the country’s political climate has markedly improved, with opposition parties already holding rallies around the country and citizens expressing their political views more freely. One sign of the improved political space was the ability of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance to hold a June 5 rally in central Harare and the decision by the police to deny a permit on the same day for a competing ZANU-PF rally to avert clashes. Another is the response of Zimbabweans – particularly women, young women and men, and first-time voters - to the opportunity to register to vote in 2018; given their numbers, these population groups will have a significant political role in the outcome of the elections. ● Welcoming International Observers – President Mnangagwa has welcomed a broad range of international organizations to observe elections in Zimbabwe, including many that were previously prevented from doing so. The IRI-NDI mission received accreditation to observe the May 19-29 inspection process and has received assurances from the Chair of the ZEC that the Mission will receive accreditation to observe the July 30 elections. The law does not require accreditation of international observers prior to the proclamation of elections, and the discretionary accreditation of our mission for voter roll inspection demonstrates the goodwill of the ZEC to welcome observers for the 2018 electoral process. ● Creating a Fresh Voters Roll – Citizens and citizen observer groups applauded the implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) process, which resulted in more than 5.3 million Zimbabweans registering to vote. There have long been longstanding concerns about the accuracy of the voters roll. Independent analysis of the 2013 preliminary voters roll showed a clear pattern of over-registration in rural areas, under-registration in urban areas and among young voters, and the presence of a large number of names of deceased persons still registered. Stakeholders agreed that a new roll was needed and many noted that this is the first voters roll not managed by the Office of the Registrar General. The reputation of the ZEC was enhanced by the successful administration of this process. ● Enhancing Citizen Access to the Inspection Process – For the first time, the ZEC established a mechanism by which citizens could verify their registration information via mobile phones and a website in addition to in-person visits to inspection centers. The Commission reports that approximately 900,000 people checked their voter registration details (though not their biometric information) using their cell phones. The ZEC also reports that almost 1.5 million people visited inspection centers to verify their details (including their photos). While these 3