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Zim ballot boxes 'tampered with': SADC observer
Zimbabwe Metro
April 21, 2008

http://zimbabwemetro.com/2008/04/21/zim-ballot-boxes-tampered-with-sadc-observer/

The recount in a number of constituencies in Zimbabwe is futile because ballot boxes have been tampered with, says a South African member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer team.

"From what I have seen and experienced in Zimbabwe over the past three days, it is clear that the process of recounting the contested wards from the recent elections is fatally flawed," South African MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard said on Monday.

The process had been marred by delays, administrative problems and the clear political intent of blaming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for all the problems associated with the recount.

"Of particular concern was the evidence of ballot box tampering that I witnessed personally, which points to a concerted effort to rig the election results in order to bring about a Mugabe 'victory'," she said in a statement.

Broken seals on ballot boxes
Evidence supporting this view included repeated miscommunication of venue addresses, resulting in party agents and electoral observers frequently posted to the incorrect venue, thus undermining the observation process and contributing to further delays in the recount.

The protocol registers at several counting stations were missing, bringing counting to a halt in a number of areas, while on a number of ballot boxes, the seals holding the keys for the two padlocks on each box had been broken.

One set of ballot boxes was missing a book of voting papers from the presidential election box, although all the other books were locked inside.

A number of other boxes had broken or missing seals, missing keys, and no voting paper books inside.

Loose ballot box seals with serial numbers identical to those on already-sealed boxes were easily available, giving the impression that ballot box seals could easily be replicated, thus opening the way for large-scale vote tampering.

All of theses problems pointed to the fact that a number of ballot boxes had been tampered with, rendering the entire exercise of recounting the contested ballots a futile one, she said.

"Despite these many problems, a number of my colleagues on the SADC observer mission must be commended for the excellent work that they have done under often difficult circumstances.

"There is no doubt that the situation in Zimbabwe is at breaking point as anger over the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's failure to release the results of the presidential election escalates.

"In many instances it was thanks to the work of SADC observers that this anger did not boil over into violent confrontation," Kohler-Barnard said.

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