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ZIMBABWE: By-election results raise questions over voter registration
IRIN News
October 09, 2006

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55875

HARARE - Candidates from the ruling ZANU-PF party romped home with huge margins in by-elections held at the weekend, although accredited election observers voiced concern about the way the poll was conducted.

The by-elections in the ZANU-PF bastions of Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central provinces coincided with celebrations marking the seventh anniversary of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and were widely seen as an acid test of the opposition's ability to penetrate government-held strongholds.

The MDC, split by internal rivalries, had little to celebrate as President Robert Mugabe's ruling party retained the two constituencies with ease. The government candidate, Steven Chiurayi, recorded 11,247 votes in Mashonaland East's Chikomba constituency, while Amos Jiri, the MDC candidate from the opposition faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, recorded 4,243 votes. In Rushinga, Mashonaland Central, ZANU-PF candidate Lazarus Dokora received 13,642 votes against MDC candidate Kudakwashe Chideya's 1,801.

The other faction of the MDC did not participate in the elections, which were preceded by opposition party allegations that government intimidation had made the area a "no-go zone" for any political party competing against ZANU-PF.

According to the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Dokora said after the announcement of the outcome that "the people of Rushinga have spoken - their vote is an affirmation to the trust they have in ZANU-PF and President Mugabe."

However, the opposing candidate, Chideya, refused to accept the results, saying they had been tampered with. "The election was not free and fair. I refuse to concede defeat, because there are so many irregularities I have observed."

Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), an electoral monitoring organisation, told IRIN that "We noted with concern the apparent dearth of voter education and information dissemination, resulting in low voter turnout, which takes away the credit from even the most peaceful and free elections", and observers had witnessed a variety of irregularities.

According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the Chikomba voter turnout was 72 percent of registered voters, while in Rushinga it was 88 percent. It is not known how many people who are eligible to vote have been registered.

ZESN used to undertake voter education programmes and disseminate electoral information, but changes to electoral laws mean the government-appointed ZEC is now the sole body entitled to conduct voter education programmes.

Matchaba-Hove said voter registration as an ongoing process was vital. "This will give persons who were previously unregistered, who changed residence or who turned 18 - the voting age - the chance to register. ZESN therefore questions whether effective voter registration has been done."

He said ZESN observers had seen voters with incorrect identity documents arriving at polling stations, but only a valid passport or national identity card were acceptable. "Some voters brought copies of passports, while others attempted to use driver's licenses, which are no longer an acceptable form of identification for voting purposes." 

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