register anew compared to the 34,118 registrants which ZEC reportedly expected.2 The low turnout during the registration exercise could partly be attributed to the decision by the MDC formations decision not to participate in by-elections until their demands for electoral reforms had been met by the government. Nkulumane is widely perceived as a stronghold of the opposition hence some citizens interviewed by ZESN during the pre-electoral period expressed an opinion that there were limited options of political parties to choose from. ZESN findings on the polling day include the following: ZESN observer reports show that the turnout was generally low with voters trickling in throughout the day. Most of those who turned out to vote were mostly women with a significantly low number of youths turning out to cast their votes. The low voter turnout for the Nkulumane by-election is consistent with the observed trends during all the 2014 and 2015 by-elections. These trends may be attributed to the fact that major opposition political parties have not participated in the by-elections, and also the timing of this by-election which coincides with the festive season where people travel to different holiday destinations. ZEC registered voters in Nkulumane using the polling station based voter registration system which was recently piloted in the Marondera Central by-election. ZESN observers reported on the use of two voters’ rolls namely the main polling station based voters’ roll which had names of those who managed to register anew during the November 2015 registration exercise in the constituency and a supplementary polling station based voters’ roll which was extracted from the 2013 ward based voters’ roll. ZEC used two voters’ rolls for the Nkulumane by-election. This becomes the second time that the Commission has utilized two separate voters rolls (main and supplementary rolls) under the polling station based voting system prompting some stakeholders to raise questions over ZEC preparedness to fully implement the system for the 2018 harmonized elections. ZESN reiterates its position that international best practice encourages the use of a single voters’ roll in order to enhance stakeholder confidence. The main voters’ roll for Nkulumane had a total of 13,331 registered voters while the supplementary voters’ roll had 20,787. A comparison of the main and the supplementary voters’ roll reveals that that most of the eligible voters in the constituency failed to avail themselves for the November 2015 registration. At every polling station which ZESN observers were deployed, all three contesting political parties had agents inside the polling station. Political parties contesting in the by-election were allowed to have one agent inside the polling station and to have an additional agent stationed within the vicinity of the polling station as provided for in the legal framework (might want to cite the exact clause or law). 2Figures provided during meeting with ZEC officials in Bulawayo. 6|Page