The Zimbabwe Election Support Network ZESN) is a coalition of 37 Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) which was formed in the year 2000. The major focus of the Network is to promote democratic
processes in general and free and fair elections in particular. Following an invitation by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC), ZESN trained and deployed a total of 6,500 Short-Term Observers (STOs) to
observe the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections. These accredited observers were deployed to every
constituency, ward, district and province in the country to observe the political environment and all
Election Day processes.

In addition, ZESN partnered with the Election Resource Centre (ERC) in deploying sample-based observers
to observe Election Day processes. In Zimbabwe, national Harmonised Elections are conducted once
every five years. Three elections are held concurrently namely; the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local
Authority elections. The 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections were the fourth to be held under this
system since the year 2008 and the third under a new Constitution which was adopted in the year 2013.
This report presents an account of the pre-election situation, the Election Day observations and the post-election environment in the country.

On 31 May 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed the election dates. Under Statutory
Instrument 85 of 2023, the President fixed the 23 August as polling day and June 21 as the date on
which Nomination Courts would sit countrywide to accept applications by political parties and their
candidates to take part in the polls. In line with Presidential proclamation, the Harmonised Elections
were conducted on 23 August 2023. On Election Day, there was another statutory instrument to extend
voting in some constituencies to 24 August because of delays in opening of some of the polling stations
due to logistical hurdles such as the deployment of wrong ballot papers or missing ballot papers

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On December 9, Zimbabwe conducted by-elections in Lupane East, Binga North, Beitbridge West, Bulawayo South, Lobengula-Magwegwe, Mpopoma-Mzilikazi, Nketa and Cowdray Park. National Assembly and Local Authority vacancies arose following recalls of nine (9) incumbent legislators and 17 Councillors by the ‘interim secretary general’ of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Sengezo Tshabangu who declared that they had ceased to be members of the political party with effect from 3 October 2023. However, instead of nine (9) National Assembly by-elections, only eight (8) were conducted. This followed a High Court judgment which barred recalled legislators from contesting, ruling acceptance of their candidature by the Nomination Court was unlawful. Therefore, the Mabvuku-Tafara by-election was cancelled since only two candidates had been nominated for election in the constituency and Sakupwanya Pedzai of ZANU-PF was duly nominated and elected as the Member of Parliament for Mabvuku-Tafara constituency.

In the run-up to the election, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) volunteers and members observed the pre-electoral environment and other electoral related events and processes such as the sitting of the Nomination Court that was conducted on 7 November 2023. On election day, ZESN deployed 256 static and 38 mobile observers who observed the election day processes. These observations helped ZESN in determining whether elections complied with national, regional and international standards of electoral integrity.

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On December 9, Zimbabwe conducted by-elections in Lupane East, Binga North, Beitbridge West, Bulawayo South, Lobengula-Magwegwe, Mpopoma-Mzilikazi, Nketa and Cowdray Park. National Assembly and Local Authority vacancies arose following recalls of nine (9) incumbent legislators and 17 Councillors by the ‘interim secretary general’ of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Sengezo Tshabangu who declared that they had ceased to be members of the political party with effect from 3 October 2023. However, instead of nine (9) National Assembly by-elections, only eight (8) were conducted. This followed a High Court judgment which barred recalled legislators from contesting, ruling acceptance of their candidature by the Nomination Court was unlawful. Therefore, the Mabvuku-Tafara by-election was cancelled since only two candidates had been nominated for election in the constituency and Sakupwanya Pedzai of ZANU-PF was duly nominated and elected as the Member of Parliament for Mabvuku-Tafara constituency. Read More