malvernmugadzikwa
Lincoln Towindo
News Editor
IN 24 days, Zimbabwe will hold its harmonised elections.
This will be the fourth time the country will be having harmonised elections since the consolidation of all national and local government polls during the 2008 plebiscite held on March 29.
Here is everything you need to know about the forthcoming polls.
When are the elections?
Zimbabweans will head to the polling stations on August 23 to elect a President, Senators, National Assembly representatives, councillors and members of metropolitan and provincial councils.
The election date was proclaimed under Statutory Instrument 85 of 2023, gazetted on May 31.
The proclamation also fixed October 2 as the Presidential election run-off date, in the event of an inconclusive first-round poll.
This year’s elections will be held midweek — Wednesday — which represents a shift from the tradition of having polls during weekends.
According to Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, this is meant to ensure all registered voters, including those from various religious groups, have a chance to cast their ballots.
“The main reason is that on Fridays, we have some members of Apostolic sects who go to church, and on Saturdays, we have some churches such as the Seventh Day Adventist Church that strictly observe the Sabbath, as well as some Apostolic sects that also go to church,” he told The Sunday Mail recently.
“Then on Sundays, we have other religious groups that also go to church.
“This is why His Excellency decided that we should have the elections on a day when no one will be going to church, hence he decided that we have elections during a weekday.”
Who is contesting?
Eleven candidates have been cleared to contest the presidential election.
Incumbent President Mnangagwa of ZANU PF leads the line-up of contestants that also includes Mr Joseph Makamba Busha (FreeZim Congress), Mr Blessing Kasiyamhuru (Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity) and Professor Lovemore Madhuku (National Constitutional Assembly).
Also on the ballot are Mr Trust Tapiwa Chikohora (Zimbabwe Coalition for Peace and Development), Mr Douglas Mwonzora (Movement for Democratic Change), Mr Gwinyai Henry Muzorewa (United African National Council), Mr Nelson Chamisa (Citizens Coalition for Change), Mr Wilbert Mubaiwa (National People’s Congress) and Mrs Elisabeth Valerio (United Zimbabwe Alliance).
In total, 617 candidates will contest the 209 National Assembly seats, down from 1 652 who contested the 2018 polls.
Elections in Gutu West constituency were cancelled last week following the recent death of independent candidate Mr Christopher Mutonhori Rwodzi. He was set to battle it out with the incumbent John Paradza of ZANU PF and CCC’s Ephraim Murudu.
The High Court last week also barred 17 candidates from contesting in 12 Bulawayo province National Assembly seats for filing their nomination papers out of time.
Only 10 people are contesting as independent candidates. More than 4 800 candidates are standing in the local authority elections, compared to 7 573 who stood in 2018.
In total, 19 political parties have deployed candidates, down from 55 parties that contested in 2018.
Who will win?
Pan-African survey research network Afrobarometer projected a win for President Mnangagwa in its most recent poll.
The poll concluded that in a hypothetical election, President Mnangagwa will garner 35 percent of the vote, ahead of Mr Chamisa’s 27 percent. The survey also showed President Mnangagwa gaining significantly since the last Afrobarometer poll conducted in June last year, where he was shown to retain the support of around 30 percent of the vote.
Conversely, Mr Chamisa, who retained the support of 33 percent of those who were surveyed last year, has suffered a significant drop in support to 27 percent.
Additionally, in a hypothetical parliamentary election, the survey concluded that ZANU PF would sweep more than 35 percent of the vote, compared to the CCC’s 26 percent.
The Afrobarometer survey, which was undertaken by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI), has a +/-2 percent margin of error.
In addition, New York-headquartered global ratings firm Fitch Solutions has also forecast that ZANU PF “will win a comfortable majority” in this year’s harmonised elections and will “remain the dominant political party force in Zimbabwe over the coming years”.
In its report titled “Zimbabwe Country Risk Report”, the firm — which is a leading provider of credit intelligence and a source of up-to-date socio-economic and political data used by the world’s leading financial institutions, multinational companies and government agencies — also described President Mnangagwa as a “reform-minded” leader, whose Government will “focus on efforts to strengthen the economy and attract investment, as well as (in the short term) manage the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Significantly, the ruling party has already won more than 90 local authority seats that were not contested by other candidates.
ZANU PF was uncontested in 28 wards in Midlands province, Mashonaland Central (24), Mashonaland East (13), and Mashonaland West (12). The party has also won four local authority seats in Masvingo and an equal number in Matabeleland North.
In Matabeleland South, the ruling party was uncontested in six wards, while one ward was won uncontested in Manicaland.
The ruling party is also uncontested in three Bulawayo National Assembly elections.
In what could also prove to be a great undoing for the CCC, the opposition party has fielded multiple candidates in dozens of constituencies, primarily in constituencies considered the party’s strongholds.
Gender representation
Only one female candidate, Mrs Valerio, is contesting the presidential election, compared to four who stood in the last poll.
Overall, 70 women are contesting for National Assembly seats, representing just 11 percent of the total prospective candidates.
In the 2018 general elections, women aspirants constituted 14,4 percent of the 1 648 National Assembly candidates.
There are 665 women contesting in local authority elections against 3 940 men.
Meanwhile, 1 336 women will be vying for 30 percent of all local government seats set aside under the women’s quota system.
In total, 561 local authority seats are guaranteed for women under the quota system.
Preparations
Elections in Zimbabwe are managed by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which was established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution. The body is charged with preparing for, conducting and supervising all elections and referendums in the country.
ZEC has registered 6 598 523 million people for this year’s elections, up from 5 695 706 who were listed as voters in 2018.
ZEC plans to establish 12 372 polling stations countrywide. Names of all the polling stations are set to be publicised on Wednesday in the local print media, exactly 21 days before polling day, as prescribed by the law.
The elections management body is recruiting more than 150 000 polling officers for the plebiscite. All the candidates have since been handed a copy of the voter’s roll that is specific to their areas of contest.
Printing of ballot papers that will be used on August 23 has also commenced.
According to ZEC chief elections officer Mr Utloile Silaigwana, “The commission will be guided by Section 52A of the Electoral Act on the number of ballot papers to be printed.
“The section states that the number of ballot papers printed should not exceed by more than 10 percent the number of registered voters.
“The commission will publish the total number of ballots printed in the press.”
He later said the process was being delayed by election-related cases that are before the courts.
On August 18, ZEC will publish names of the companies that would have printed the ballot papers and the number of ballots printed and distributed to each polling station, in compliance with Section 52A of the Electoral Act.
Ahead of the elections, Government invited 46 countries — including the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom — as well as 17 continental and regional bodies, to observe the polls.
In addition, all 51 embassies and nine consulates accredited to Zimbabwe have received invitations for accreditation to observe the polls.
Among the invitees are observers from 15 Southern African Development Community countries; the African Union (AU); the Pan-African Parliament; Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa; African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States; European Union; the Non-Aligned Movement; and the Commonwealth.
On Wednesday last week, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) deployed 46 long-term observers across the country. It became the first foreign observer mission to deploy its personnel ahead of the elections.
How does Zimbabwe’s electoral system work?
In Zimbabwe, voting is polling station-based. This means Zimbabweans are required to cast their ballots at polling stations assigned to them upon registration as voters. The country’s electoral system is a mixed one. It consists of the single-member majority system; the single-member plurality system, popularly known as the first-past-the-post system; and the proportional representation (PR) system.
Single-member majority
This system applies to the presidential election. Under this system, the winner must obtain an absolute majority of votes, the minimum being 50 percent plus one vote.
A run-off election is conducted when no candidate secures an outright majority.
The two candidates who come out of the first-round poll with the highest number of votes will contest the runoff.
Proportional representation
The proportional representation system is used to elect 60 Senators, 60 women and 10 youths into the National Assembly, and all members of the provincial councils.
The law requires political parties to file party PR nomination lists during sitting of the Nomination Court.
A party that does not file its list for all the elections under the PR system cannot qualify to be allocated seats. The Electoral Act provides the formula for allocating seats to eligible parties under this system.
First-past-the-post system
This system is used to elect National Assembly and local authority candidates.
Under this electoral system, the candidate who attains the highest number of votes — that is, a minimum of one vote more than the other candidate(s) — is declared the winner.
When will the election results be announced?
Counting of votes commences immediately after the polling stations close at 7pm on voting day.
The process is preceded by a verification of ballots, which is done at the polling station by the presiding officer and ZEC staff, in the presence of candidates, their election agents and observers.
Verification entails ascertaining that the total number of ballots issued to a polling station is equal to the sum total of the ballots cast, unused and spoilt. Once that process is completed, results are displayed outside the polling station.
The law prescribes that results of the presidential election must be announced within five days. As such, ZEC says the presidential election results will be announced by August 28.
Twitter: @Kuntowaz
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter