The Mutoko North Constituency by-election will be held on the 24^th of November 2018.  As part of its oversight role on electoral processes and elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), conducted a computer audit of the Mutoko North Constituency voters roll, to provide an independent assessment of the quality of the register. The audit encompassed assessing accuracy, currency/ validity and comprehensiveness / completeness of the voters roll.  This report thus presents the outcome of the computer audit. A number of tests were conducted in accordance with an established methodology…more

Introduction

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) continues to observe the pre-election environment and key electoral processes in Mutoko North constituency ahead of the by-election set for Saturday 24 November 2018. This Long Term Observers’ (LTOs) report covers the period from 28 October to 10 November 2018…more

The ZESN conducted an audit of the 2018 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) voters’ rolls. The audit was conducted to provide independent non-partisan information on the quality of the 2018 PVR and the 2018 FVR to all stakeholders, including: the ZEC, political parties, civic organizations, and citizens. The methodology of the voters’ roll audit encompassed conducting computer audits, people-to-list and list-to-people field tests…more

Young people in Zimbabwe constitutes 67.7 percent (%) of the total population; their effective participation in electoral and governance processes remains a cornerstone to achieve sustainable inclusivity and enhanced civic engagement in politics. Young people around the world have suddenly realized their competitive advantage in changing the development of their nations, and this has been evident through the upsurge in street protests, and the use of online social platforms to connect, express their voices and campaign for change…more

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) notes that women in Zimbabwe continue to suffer from historical marginalisation and structural inequalities that exist in all spheres of life, including the governance arena. Even though some progress has been made in legislating the participation of women in elections and decision-making in Zimbabwe, including adopting a quota system in parliament, women’s participation in government at all levels, from the local to the national, remains extremely low and in some cases, has regressed…more

This paper on Election Dispute Resolution (EDR) departs from the point that the electoral competition is often accompanied by disputes and tensions as political parties and candidates jostle for power. The subject of the paper, Zimbabwe has been experiencing election disputes and election-related conflicts especially since the emergence of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the late 1990s.  The antagonistic relationship between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) and the MDC have extremely polarised the country with ripple effects on the electoral processes. The paper shows that the disputes and tensions arising from electoral competition must be managed so that they do not become either a source of violent conflict or escalators of an existing conflict…more

The media’s performance in covering elections in Zimbabwe – in terms of professional conduct and quality reporting – has consistently fallen short of international, regional and local standards of good journalism. While the country’s electoral law and media regulations guide election related content, enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance have been weak. The structure of the media, which lacks diversity and is dominated by media with links to the ruling party, and the conduct of media personnel as they gather news has also impacted on the nature of coverage…more

This paper on the role of traditional leaders in elections and electoral processes in Zimbabwe depicts a picture of a traditional authority whose existence is held in tension between the citizen expectations for it to be a neutral vanguard of the traditions, customs and community development on the one hand and, the ruling elite’s demands for it to be loyal and serve the interest of the incumbent party. Despite this, and notwithstanding the political polarisation prevailing in Zimbabwe, the paper shows that there is a consensus in the literature on the institution of traditional leaders regarding its centrality to development at the local government level. In sharp contrast, there is a general opposition to the involvement of traditional leaders in elections and electoral processes. The Constitution is used as the point of reference and authority in this regard owing to its unequivocal provisions that bar traditional leaders from playing any role in elections…more