AMERICAN Election Observer Mission (EOM) Carter Center has called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release polling station-level results so independent organisations can verify the body’s results.
ZEC is under increasing pressure after announcing President Emmerson Mnangagwa as winner of the country’s August 23 polls without breaking down how he got the 52.6% it claims he amassed.
The election, which Carter Center, the European Union (EU), SADC and African Union (AU) said did not meet regional and international standards, was held under a cloud of fear, maladministration and widespread voter suppression.
In a statement released after its Preliminary Report of the poll, Carter Center said if ZEC were to release results in that format it would go a long way in appeasing competing parties who do not trust it, and the result.
“Results for the National Assembly and local authority elections were announced at the constituency and the ward level, respectively. The electoral published the results on its webpage; however, technical problems made the site difficult to access and led to limited public access to information.
“Given the highly polarized post-election environment and lack of trust among political stakeholders, the Center stressed that it is critical that the electoral commission publish detailed results at the polling-station level on a timely basis so that political parties and observers can cross-verify the results, in accordance with international best practice, to help ensure the transparency and credibility of the election process,” reads its statement.
Team Pachedu, an online pressure group that had been on ZEC’s toes since last year, has claimed to have a parallel tabulation that reveals the electoral body rigged Zimbabwe’s poll in favour of Zanu PF and Mnangagwa.
It claims Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) President Nelson Chamisa claimed the presidency of Zimbabwe.
“ZEC announced wrong presidential results. In Cowdray Park, for instance, the presidential results announced by ZEC do not match the V11s and V23B. When we ask for the V11s or dis-aggregated polling station results from ZEC, this is what we want to audit,” said Team Pachedu on Saturday.
The Priscilla Chigumba-chaired electoral body has refused to budge. It has declared that no law compels it to release results in that format.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has also ignored the matters being raised. His inauguration has been tentatively set for Monday if Chamisa’s legal team chooses not to challenge his win at the Constitutional Court.
“ZEC is not compelled by the law to publish V11 forms. The map below shows the real performance of the top two Presidential candidates during the just-ended elections,” said ZEC on Twitter while sharing its map as evidence of Mnangagwa’s triumph.
