In addition to the above, prior to the 2018 Harmonised Elections, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (established under Chapter 12 of the 2013 Constitution) initiated a ‘peace pledge’ which was signed by 20 of the 23 presidential candidates, publicly committing to campaign peacefully and tolerantly. Key electoral issues for the 2018 Harmonised Elections 1. Electoral reform and legal framework The legal framework, including the Electoral Act, offers a comprehensive and detailed basis for the conduct of elections in Zimbabwe. One gap is the absence of a dedicated Political Party Act to comprehensively regulate the activities of political parties. For these elections, there were an estimated 130 political parties in the country, of which 55 parties contested the 2018 elections at some level. Given the breadth and number of existing political parties, a mechanism to regulate and hold accountable the various political parties could only strengthen Zimbabwe’s democracy. The Electoral Act is not fully consistent with prescriptions of the 2013 Constitution regarding elections. For example, Section 161 of the Constitution regarding delimitation of electoral boundaries prescribes that the ZEC must conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries ‘as soon as possible after a population census’ […] ‘such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency’ (and the same for each ward). Section 161 of the Constitution details the related procedure. By contrast, the Electoral Law, in Section 37A, merely requires the ZEC to notify the public of its intention to review and fix boundaries and to entertain representations from affected or interested persons. There is no provision for a specific office, body or process within the ZEC to conduct boundary delimitations. As a matter of fact, for the 2018 Harmonised Elections, no process of review or delimitation took place despite the availability of the 2012 census: the boundaries used were those of the 2008 elections. Another example of inconsistencies between the Constitution and the Electoral Act relates to the declaration of results. While the Electoral Act prescribes in Section 110 that the chairperson of the ZEC shall ‘forthwith declare’ the results of election to Office of President, and ‘not later than five days after the polling day’, Section 156(b) of the Constitution stipulates that ‘the results of the election or referendum are announced as soon as possible after the close of the polls’. Scrupulous respect for this requirement is vital to maintain public confidence and to enable prompt and pointed challenge with expeditious determination thereof. Accordingly, the Electoral Act should be aligned with the Constitution. Especially in light of public concern over the lack of transparency in the aggregation of results and the delays in the tabulation and publication process, and notwithstanding the fact that the ZEC declared final results about 76 hours after the closing of the polls, consideration may be given to amending the law to ensure the declaration of results without undue 19