Electronic voting is the way to go

by the USA itself.
The losing candidate, in the presidential election, conceded defeat within hours after the polling closed. Why did this happen when many countries wanted Hugo Chavez to lose? It is called electronic voting, one of the best systems introduced by Hugo Chavez. The USA does not have such a fool proof system.

This is what elections should all be about where results are known within hours of polling stations closing. But electronic voting costs money which many third world countries cannot afford. Venezuela has abundant oil resources but not only that, Hugo Chavez wanted to shame his critics by introducing such an advanced electoral system.

What then can be done to avoid human error in national elections? It is getting the logistics well in place before the polling day. Transporting ballot boxes and papers to polling stations well ahead of time is very crucial. But all this requires enough resources which Third World countries cannot finance adequately without support.

But we hear a lot of disquiet coming from Western countries that want to observe elections in developing countries. As for Zimbabwe, the country is denied access to the markets in Western countries to sell its diamonds so that enough resources could be raised to finance the forthcoming elections.
All what the country requires is to be able to sell its products freely without being sanctioned and prevented from trading normally like any other country in the free world. If Zimbabwe were to trade normally without the impediment of sanctions, it could afford to introduce electronic voting machines like what Venezuela did.

Be as it may, no matter how tedious it will take to use the manual means of voting, elections shall be run and managed to the satisfaction of the people of Zimbabwe. All what is required is the orientation and training of civil servants that will be put in charge of making the process credible.
Already, there have been reports of the disputes in the Kenyan national elections. The bone of contention is the interpretation of the electoral law where 50 percent plus votes are required for the winner to be declared in the first round of balloting. Is the percentage calculated from the votes cast or from the valid votes cast?

Why that oversight in the law’s interpretation was allowed is beyond understanding when it took so many years to write a new constitution for that country? Is Zimbabwe going to fall prey to such an undefined electoral law?
Surely, an invalid vote cannot be counted as a vote cast. Then, what constitutes an invalid vote? The USA had such voting disputes in the presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore, for the crucial state of Florida a few years ago. The dispute was settled by the USA Supreme Court which ruled in favour of Bush.

Running elections is a very costly exercise in terms of what is required to set up polling stations throughout the whole country. In Sadc countries, it should not be just the notion of observing elections but the financial contributions by these countries to the resources required to mount the elections. Many people agree that African countries must offer or give financial assistance to countries running elections. The assistance could come in the form of money, vehicles and other ordinances.
It is not incompetence at stake, in conducting credible elections but the lack of resources. Surely, it is unheard of for countries that are hostile to be invited to observe elections in a country they have imposed sanctions. Why not remove the sanctions? It is as simple as that.

In many countries, people die needlessly during elections but the western countries declare those elections free and fair. Those countries that come to mind are Iraq and Aphiganistan. The elections in those countries were herald as free and fair, maybe, to allow the occupying countries to exit a terrible war.

There are always double standards practiced by western countries whenever third world countries conduct their elections. But, it is also important that elections be conducted in a peaceful environment to allow the electorate to choose their representatives from any political party of their preference.
Southern Africa has proved to be a stable region whose populations are not war-like but want economic and social development to uplift themselves. Whatever the outcome of the elections, political parties must come together to build the nation.

This is what the population must be told by political leaders and those standing as candidates. There will never be any disputed results if a declaration is made that political leaders and their representatives, standing as candidates in various constituencies, have the best interests of the people and the country.

What is not acceptable is political interference from outside the country. Let the Zimbabwean people exercise their right to choose their government. Zimbabwe does not interfere in the affairs of western countries. If any dispute arises in the elections, the draft constitution, to be approved shortly, will be the final arbiter through the courts of law.
But, the people hope that with the elaborate preparations that are taking place before the voting begins, nothing will derail the election process.