Back to Index

ZI launches RESTORE, a framework for running free and fair elections
Zimbabwe Institute
October 19, 2007

Download this document
- Acrobat PDF version (533KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

The Zimbabwe Institute (ZI) today launches RESTORE 2. This is a document that provides a blueprint for the restoration of democracy in Zimbabwe through the holding of free and fair elections. ZI first launched RESTORE in 2004 following the signing of the SADC protocol on the conduct of elections by heads of state in Mauritius.

RESTORE 2 is an update of RESTORE and takes into full account the conduct of elections in Zimbabwe since 2000 and seeks to provide an electoral framework that will provide for free and fair elections.

This is the Zimbabwe Institute's contribution to the search for a resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe. We hope that political parties, civil society groups in Zimbabwe and the SADC dialogue process will embrace these principles as a key block to the resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe.

In developing RESTORE ZI has taken the view that free and fair elections are an essential component of any truly democratic system of governance. Yet in recent years in Zimbabwe elections have been neither free nor fair.

Because elections have not been free and fair, voters have lost faith in the entire electoral process and this has led to disillusionment, cynicism and apathy relating to the electoral process.

True democracy can only be restored in Zimbabwe if we restore genuine, democratic elections and restore an electoral environment that will allow free and fair elections to take place.

This document defines elections as process not an event. It is not enough to have fair election processes on Election Day. Political parties contesting the election must be able to campaign freely; the voters must be assured that they will not face persecution before or after they vote because of their electoral preference; voters must be assured that how they have voted will remain secret.

To ensure free and fair elections RESTORE proposes that Zimbabwe:

• Restores the Rule of Law
• End all political violence and completely disband the youth militias and impartial police and security forces
• Restores Basic Freedoms and Rights
• Revoke those aspects of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) that curtail the right of citizens to move, assemble and speak freely and curtail the right of political parties freely to campaign.
• Repeal those aspects of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) that curtail media freedoms and remove all obstacles preventing independent print and electronic media from operating freely.
• Liberalise the electronic media and open the airwaves to provide balanced and proportional coverage of all political parties.
• Ensure that all Zimbabwean citizens residing outside the country are allowed to vote.
• Establishes a Genuinely Independent Electoral Commission
• Ensure that the entire electoral process is managed and conducted in a fair and impartial manner.
• Establish an Electoral Commission that is politically impartial and independent and which is responsible for all aspects of the elections and the electoral process.
• Restores Public Confidence in the Electoral Process
• Conduct an independent audit of the voters' roll in order to ensure that there is an accurate and up-to-date voters' roll and provide electronic copies of the voters' roll to all political parties and interested persons.
• Establish a sufficient number of polling stations (at least 1 polling station per 1000 registered voters in a constituency).
• Institute a code of conduct for political parties and create peace committees involving the Independent Electoral Commission, all political parties and civil society to curb or suppress political violence.
• Ensure unhindered access to the entire electoral process by political parties as well as domestic, regional and international observers and allow civic organisations to conduct voter education.
• Restores Secrecy of the Ballot
• Use opaque ballot papers and allow voters to place their marked ballot papers directly in the ballot box without first showing them to the presiding officer; permit "assisted" voters to select a person of their own choosing to help them vote; use translucent plastic ballot boxes of secure single piece construction, and use visible, indelible ink to mark individuals who have voted.
• Count ballot papers at polling stations immediately after voting ends and post the results at the polling station and provide copies to all party agents and observers.

Download full document 

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP