Zimbabwe – Ready for Elections? 29 on official duty.143 There are large numbers of eligible voters who currently reside outside the country.144 These people cannot vote by postal votes.145 This means that a great number of Zimbabwean nationals in the diaspora are effectively being denied the right to participate in the government of their country, despite the fact that the African Commission of Human and Peoples Rights146 issued provisional measures urging the government to put in place measures to facilitate the Diaspora vote.147 The government has failed and refused to put these measures in place. An application was made to the Constitutional Court to enforce these provisional measures; the court dismissed the application and has not yet provided reasons for its ruling. Whilst the court and ZEC have gone out of their way to circumvent clear provisions of the law relating to the Special Vote, there has been a visible reluctance to extend the same fundamental right to other affected Zimbabweans who are generally in the Diaspora as political and economic exiles, but who continue to sustain the economy and nationals within Zimbabwe with their remittances to the homeland. Applications for postal votes were processed at the same time as the Special Vote. 148 There has, however, been no information provided on this process by ZEC. The ZEC is mandated in terms of the law to make public the number of applications processed for special and postal vote and is currently in violation of this provision.149 Further, there was no opportunity to observe the postal voting process to ensure its transparency, integrity and secrecy of the ballot. 2.17 Concerns with upcoming processes relating to the elections 2.17.1 Voter education on actual polling Polling will be held on 31 July 2013. The proclamation announcing the election date was made on 12 June 2013.150 The election to be held on 31 July 2013 is harmonised, with presidential, parliamentary and local government elections151 being held at the same time. Although this ensures uniformity in the system, this time around, voters will be faced with three separate ballot papers: for a presidential candidate, member of the National Assembly, and local councillor. Their votes will also contribute to the Senate representatives, provincial council members and women’s quota, which are all decided 143 Section 70(1)(a) of the Electoral Act. 144 G Marinovich “Desperately fleeing Mugabe” Sunday Times (1 April 2007) p 13; J Rademeyer “Refugees flood in as Mugabe triumphs” Sunday Times 1 April (2007) p 1 where it was highlighted that at least 49000 illegal Zimbabweans are crossing the border into South Africa; They left Zimbabwe either because of political persecution or for economic reasons, and many of them will not be able to return to cast their votes due to many reasons such as not having a valid passport as some are illegal immigrants. 145 Available for those who are not within the vicinity of their wards especially those in the diaspora. 146 Shumba & Ors v The Government of Zimbabwe Communication 430/2012. 147 S Ndhlovu “Zimbabweans in SA, Bots shun elections” The Financial Gazette (18 July 2013) p 1. 148 F Share “Special voting dates announced” The Herald (3 July 2013) p1. 149 Section 74(4) of the Electoral Act. 150 Section 38(1) of the Electoral Act as amended; See Statutory Instrument 7A 2008. 151 Sections 28(3) and 58(1) of the Constitution; All the elections are conducted on the same day.