The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s handling of the
July 30 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections came under
sharp scrutiny last week after the opposition MDC Alliance claimed to have
discovered police officers clandestinely voting at a camp in Bulawayo.
ZEC acting chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana
sparked controversy when he told the state-controlled Herald’s online edition
reports of postal voting being undertaken at Ross Camp were “hogwash”.
The story was later removed from the publication’s website
after police confirmed that voting was underway.
However, Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba
yesterday insisted that nothing untoward happened at Ross Camp.
Chigumba (PC) told Standard senior reporter Xolisani Ncube (XN)
that her commission would not investigate the allegations that police officers
were forced to cast their ballots in front of their commanders because no one
had lodged a complaint.
She also argued that her critics were raising
“sensationalised allegations and extra-judicial requests presented as legal
rights contrary to the legal framework that governs elections”.
Below are excerpts from the interview.
XN: Last Thursday there was confusion after Zec acting
chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana issued a statement denying that
postal voting was underway while police confirmed that officers were voting at
Ross Camp in Bulawayo. What caused this confusion if Zec is solely in charge of
the process?
PC: The acting chief elections officer did not deny that
postal voting was underway, but denied that the commission had set up polling
stations for that purpose.
The law does not envisage the setting-up of polling
stations for postal voting, but that applicants exercise their right in secrecy
before sealing their ballots in provided envelopes and returning same to the
chief elections officer by a prescribed date.
The true version of his response is as in the Herald of
July 13, 2018.
XN: Why was the postal voting process not advertised like
in previous elections?
PC: There is no provision in the law that requires the
commission to publish the postal voting process and the commission has placed
all issues to do with the postal voting process in the public domain through
disclosure of entities and statistics of those who were participating to all
stakeholders.
XN: Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal Trudy Stevenson
tweeted last week that her embassy had not received postal ballots. What
assurances can you give that Zec is abiding by the law in handling the postal
votes?
PC: As far as Zec is concerned, it has despatched the
postal ballots for successful applicants to the relevant ministry and it is now
up to the ministry to forward the same for them to exercise their right.
It is also incumbent upon the ministry to meet the
deadlines set by the law.
XN: There are videos circulating on social media showing
police officers voting in front of their superiors. Is that how the voting
process is supposed to be handled? Is Zec going to investigate claims by some
police officers that they were forced to vote under the watch of their
superiors?
PC: The videos have already been dismissed as fake by the
police and this information was also given to observers by Senior Assistant
Commissioner Erasmus Makodza during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s
briefing to local and international observers on its state of preparedness.
No official complaint has also been received from aggrieved
persons to date and, therefore, there is nothing to investigate at this moment.
XN: How many ballots have you despatched through the postal
voting system and what measures are in place to ensure the system is not
manipulated?
PC: The commission received a total of 7 646 applications
for postal voting. Out of that figure, 185 were disqualified for the reason of
not being on the voters roll.
The commission is, therefore, processing a total of 7 461
successful applications broken down as follows:
Police: 4 616
Defence: 392
Electoral Officers: 2 403
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 50
Total: 7 461
The information on the postal ballot processing is
available for the public to inspect and verify, so the issue of manipulation
does not arise.
XN: What is your reaction to allegations that the
presidential election ballot paper has been designed to favour President
Emmerson Mnangagwa?
PC: The allegations are regrettable and the commission, as
already explained to stakeholders including observers, it did consider all
options in coming up with the design of the ballot paper.
The proposed one column design by a concerned stakeholder
would have resulted in a long ballot paper of A3 plus in size and required
double the amount of paper.
It would also have been difficult for the folded ballot
paper to fit in the aperture of the ballot box because of its small size.
Further, that would have meant more ballot boxes would fill
up quickly leading to more being required for procurement.
The cost-benefit analysis revealed that the option would
have required not only an increase in ballot paper, but also an increase in the
production time plus number of ballot boxes to be procured.
The two-column design is the design that has been adopted
by the commission for all ballot papers with candidates in excess of 14 people
regardless of the type of election, using its discretion after weighing the
available options.
The candidates’ names will still retain the alphabetical
order of surnames as provided for in section 3 (11) (b) (i) of the Electoral
Regulations SI21 of 2005.
However, stakeholders are reminded that issues to do with
the design and printing of ballot paper remain the exclusive right of the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in terms of Section 239 (g) of the constitution
of Zimbabwe.
XN: Why is Zec refusing to accede to demands by the
opposition to inspect the ballot paper printing process?
PC: This is not a legal requirement and Zec in attempting
to build consensus invited political parties to observe the printing of the
ballot on the 12th of June 2018, but which gesture was abandoned following
unlawful and unreasonable demands by some stakeholders on the process.
However, interested stakeholders were provided with the
sample ballot paper for them to assess the quality and for comparison on
election day if they had doubts.
XN: Do you think Zimbabweans still have confidence in Zec
following last week’s incidents that included a massive demonstration against
the way you are handling the pre-election period?
PC: That the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may not know,
but it is convinced that it has not broken any law.
Moreover, the demonstration and complaints were from a
single stakeholder to the electoral process.
XN: Independent observers have been picking serious
mistakes on the voters roll since it was made public. What assurance can you
give Zimbabweans that these are genuine mistakes and not deliberate attempts to
rig the elections?
PC: The problem has been that the media has also failed to
uphold the right to reply.
It has gone on to publish falsehoods using sensationalised
headlines without seeking the view or explanation of the commission on issues
raised on the voters roll.
However, the commission has already issued public notices
in the print media explaining some of the misrepresentations made.
The voters roll produced by the commission is a good
product owing to the technology used to weed out duplicates and to avoid
doubling registration.
XN: What is Zec doing to regain public trust that it will
be impartial in running the elections?
PC: The commission will continue adhering to the law and
providing the electorate with the correct information through its voter
education programmes and responses to issues raised.
XN: What is your reaction to reports that there are polling
stations with only two voters?
PC: That is also false. The commission has since published
the polling stations for the forthcoming elections.
There was confusion by stakeholders between
registration/inspection centres and polling stations.
XN: What are some of the challenges you have encountered
since your appointment as Zec chairperson and did you anticipate them prior to
accepting the appointment?
PC: The challenges are dealing with sensationalised
allegations and extra-judicial requests presented as legal rights contrary to
the legal framework that governs elections.
Yes, I did anticipate them because Zimbabwe is a country
under transition and some habits by stakeholders will need time for
stakeholders to discard them. Standard
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