b) Opening of Polling Stations Most of the polling stations that observers visited opened on time and all the essential materials for polling such as ballot papers, ballot boxes, voters roll, ZEC stamps and voters roll exclusion lists were available. On average, there were 9 to 10 polling officials and an average of 5 females at every station visited with long queues witnessed outside polling stations in the morning. c) Voting The Mission notes that in the areas visited by its observers, the voting process progressed smoothly throughout the day. The eminent persons commends the ZEC for ensuring that the voting process proceeded in an orderly manner. Generally, observers and party agents were able to perform their duties without any hindrances. d) Areas of concern The mission noted the concerns raised by stakeholders on the voters register and printing of ballot papers and encourages ZEC to engage stakeholders after the elections to address these matters to ensure that they that they are not an issue in future. Areas in need of improvement are: i) Allocation of polling stations There was confusion at some polling stations as some voters had no knowledge of where they would vote from. Some voters were turned away because they joined the wrong queue and had to be redirected to their correct polling stations. ii) Voting Process It was noted that in some cases assistance by the Presiding Officer was witnessed by a police officer and two polling staff, for example at David Livingstone Primary School in Harare. This number of witnesses compromised the secrecy of the vote. The voting process at some polling stations with larger voter population was slow. The Mission noted the challenge of poor lighting at some polling stations in tents which could have compromised the vote counting process. Some polling stations in the rural areas were using candles. There were some missing voters from the register, and yet there were no clear/ standardised instructions on how to deal with such cases. Also of concern was the small print on the Presidential ballot paper which should be reviewed. The Mission noted that the Commission did not print braille ballot papers for the visually impaired. This could have reduced the number of assisted voters. 22