COP VIDEOS FAKE : CHIGUMBA

The ZEC boss, Priscilla Chigumba has described the videos of cops voting in front on superiors as fake. She told The Standard :"Th...

The ZEC boss, Priscilla Chigumba has described the videos of cops voting in front on superiors as fake.

She told The Standard :"The videos have already been dismissed as fake by the police and this information was also given to observers by Senior Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s briefing to local and international observers on its state of preparedness.

No official complaint has also been received from aggrieved persons to date and, therefore, there is nothing to investigate at this moment.

"The commission received a total of 7 646 applications for postal voting. Out of that figure, 185 were disqualified for the reason of not being on the voters roll.

The commission is, therefore, processing a total of 7 461 successful applications broken down as follows:

Police: 4 616

Defence: 392

Electoral Officers: 2 403

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 50

Total: 7 461

The information on the postal ballot processing is available for the public to inspect and verify, so the issue of manipulation does not arise. 

On allegations that the ballot paper favoured President Mnangagwa she said :" The allegations are regrettable and the commission, as already explained to stakeholders including observers, it did consider all options in coming up with the design of the ballot paper.

The proposed one column design by a concerned stakeholder would have resulted in a long ballot paper of A3 plus in size and required double the amount of paper.

It would also have been difficult for the folded ballot paper to fit in the aperture of the ballot box because of its small size.

Further, that would have meant more ballot boxes would fill up quickly leading to more being required for procurement.
The cost-benefit analysis revealed that the option would have required not only an increase in ballot paper, but also an increase in the production time plus number of ballot boxes to be procured.

The two-column design is the design that has been adopted by the commission for all ballot papers with candidates in excess of 14 people regardless of the type of election, using its discretion after weighing the available options.

The candidates’ names will still retain the alphabetical order of surnames as provided for in section 3 (11) (b) (i) of the Electoral Regulations SI21 of 2005.

However, stakeholders are reminded that issues to do with the design and printing of ballot paper remain the exclusive right of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in terms of Section 239 (g) of the constitution of Zimbabwe.