From The Financial Gazette, 24 March

Opposition MDC cries foul as soldiers vote

Felix Njini

The crucial March 31 general election has plunged into fresh controversy that could undermine its credibility as it emerged this week that uniformed forces, seen as sympathetic to the ruling Zanu PF, have already cast their ballots. Although the Electoral Act allows members of the disciplined forces and electoral officers to vote ahead of time due to their likely absence from their constituencies on election day, opposition groups are unsettled by what they consider a surreptitious exercise that could affect their chances in the election. Revelations that the uniformed forces had cast their votes ahead of the month-end elections have created a political storm among opposition parties, particularly the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which yesterday said it was oblivious of the fact that members of the uniformed forces had already voted.

As provided by the governing Act under Section 75(1c), those voting by post only do so in the presence of a "competent witness". "No other person except the competent witness shall be present and the voter shall not allow the competent witness to see how he or she has voted," reads part of the Act. However, the constituency election officers are obliged to seal and open the postal ballot boxes in the presence of candidates or their designated agents. Zimbabwe’s uniformed forces comprise the Zimbabwe National Army, the Zimbabwe Prison Services and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, bodies which also constitute the bulk of the civil service. Justice George Chiweshe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), confirmed yesterday that the ballots were sealed on March 18, exactly 13 days before the crunch polls that would be fiercely fought between Zanu PF and the MDC. "The postal ballot has already been concluded and the votes are being sent to their various constituencies and this is being done in the presence of representatives from all parties," said the ZEC boss without disclosing the number of people who voted. Justice Chiweshe said the printing of the postal ballots was done well before the printing of the rest of the ballot papers, which was scheduled to end yesterday.

MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi yesterday claimed the five-year-old opposition party had not been invited to monitor the postal ballot voting procedures. He said: "We were told that they are voting by postal ballot but there are certain procedures which they have to follow. Each ballot paper has to be accompanied by an application from each individual voter. How did they conduct the vote when the ballots had not even been printed? There is a high possibility that the secrecy of the vote has been compromised and we are closely following that. If there are any anomalies, then we want that vote discounted. The electoral process should be done in a transparent manner. It is a naked lie that we are involved in the processing of the postal ballot," the MDC national spokesman charged. During the disputed 2002 presidential elections won by President Robert Mugabe, complaints were raised that the postal ballot had been conducted in the presence of senior officers. It was alleged uniformed officers were ordered to vote at their stations under the supervision of their seniors, charges which have since been denied by the government.

Analysts were concerned yesterday that the postal vote had been concluded ahead of the training of presiding officers slated for March 26. Training for polling officers would be done a day after, while electoral officers would go through the process on March 28. The opposition has also raised an outcry over the neutrality of the uniformed forces, whose senior officials have openly stated they would never "recognise an MDC-led government". Vava Chipfunde, the national director of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network told The Financial Gazette yesterday that it was in the interest of contesting parties to know the number of people who voted in the exercise and in which constituencies. "This is very important for integrity and confidence. If the whole system is open, then there is no room for suspicion," said Chipfunde. Otto Saki, a human rights lawyer, said voting by the uniformed forces is supposed to be conducted in the presence of election observers, monitors, civic organisations and contesting political parties. In theory ballots are supposed to be sent to their constituencies but it is difficult to ascertain whether the ballots would be allocated to the respective constituencies if the situation is not closely monitored by observers and all interested parties, Saki said. "The problem is that since the 2000 general elections and the 2002 presidential elections, voting by uniformed forces has always been done clandestinely — there has never been an attempt to make it known which is why there is always a lingering suspicion," Saki said.