powers on registration and operations of CSOs, as opposed to parliamentary oversight. Prior to the 2017 government transition, CSOs in Zimbabwe faced a tense and politically challenging environment, and were unable to operate freely without the threat of violence or intimidation from the state police and youth militia. Many CSOs have positively noted throughout the 2018 pre-election period that there was a significant widening of the space for CSOs to operate in and engage directly with voters, as well as an increase in access to information as part of the electoral process. For the first time in the country’s history, CSOs were able to participate in programmes like voter education. Pre-election period and CSO engagement For the 2018 Harmonised Elections, the activities of civil society groups covered various thematic aspects of the electoral cycle in a bid to influence a credible and participatory democratic outcome, bearing in mind the country’s history of political repression. Engagement processes were visibly organised at the community and national levels, critically auditing each stage of the electoral cycle activities. The Commonwealth Observer Group was briefed by several CSOs in the days leading up to Election Day. CSOs were well informed and had a robust understanding of the political and social contexts within their thematic areas for the elections. CSOs engaged in a wide range of monitoring and evaluation activities in the lead up to the elections, including those relating to gender, human rights, legal assistance and capacity building of various vulnerable groups, allowing the latter to participate effectively in the electoral process. This was evident in the pre-election period through voter education. For instance, during the biometric voter registration (BVR) phase, which began in September 2017, CSOs worked to ensure that citizens were aware of the BVR process, by providing on-ground education in local communities, supporting transportation to BVR sites, facilitating appropriate documentation for registration, and encouraging the electorate to register to vote. In several instances, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) represented opposition candidates who filed cases with the Electoral Court citing instances of intimidation by ZANU-PF party supporters. In June 2018, CSOs under the banner of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, released a joint statement which outlined their outstanding concerns and calls for electoral reform. They noted specifically, ‘While Zimbabwe is set to hold elections on 30 July 2018, we raise key concerns around inadequacies on the part of the Zimbabwe Election Commission to administer a credible electoral process, the involvement of the military and traditional leaders in elections remaining unaddressed’. The statement highlighted additional concerns and provided recommendations, many of which were raised through other forums with political stakeholders. These included limited access to the final voter’s roll from the ZEC and the blatant political bias towards the incumbent government by the state media. 34