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The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) scrutinized the management of the presidential, legislative and local elections on July 30 after the MDC Alliance claimed to have discovered that police were illegally voting in a Bulawayo camp.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
UTOile Silaigwana, Acting Electoral Director of the ZEC, aroused controversy by stating that the Herald's reports on the online election of postal ballot at Ross Camp were "fucked up".
of the publication's website after the police confirmed that the vote was going on.
However, Zec's president, Judge Priscilla Chigumba, insisted yesterday that nothing untoward has happened at Ross's camp.
Chigumba (PC) told our reporter Xolisani Ncube (XN) that his commission would not initiate an investigation into allegations that police officers were forced to vote in front of their commanders because no one had lodged a complaint.
She also argued that her criticisms raised "sensational allegations and out-of-court claims presented as legal rights contrary to the legal framework governing elections".
Here are excerpts from the interview.
XN: Last Thursday, there was confusion after Zec Acting Director General Utoile Silaigwana declared that the postal vote was in progress while the police confirmed that the officers were voting in the camp Ross in Bulawayo. What caused this confusion if Zec is solely responsible for the process?
PC: The Acting Chief Electoral Officer did not deny that the mail ballot was ongoing, but denied that the board had opened polling stations. this goal.
The law does not contemplate the establishment of postal polling stations, but the plaintiffs exercise their right in secret before sealing their ballots in the envelopes provided and returning them to the Chief Electoral Officer in a fixed period.
The true version of his answer is as in the Herald of July 13, 2018.
XN: Why has the process of voting by correspondence not been advertised as in previous elections?
PC: There is no provision in the law that requires the commission to publish the postal voting process and the commission has placed all matters relating to the postal voting process in the public domain by disclosing the entities and statistics of those who were participating in all stakeholders
XN: The Zimbabwean ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson, tweeted last week that his embassy had not received a postal vote. What assurances can you give Zec to abide by the law when dealing with postal votes?
PC: With respect to Zec, he mailed the postal ballots for the successful candidates to the department concerned and it is now up to the department to convey the same to them to exercise their right.
It is also the responsibility of the ministry to respect the deadlines set by law.
XN: Videos are circulating on social media showing police officers voting in front of their superiors. Is this the way the voting process is supposed to be managed? Will Zec investigate the allegations of some police officers that they were forced to vote under the supervision of their superiors?
PC: The videos have already been rejected as false by the police. delivered to observers by Senior Deputy Commissioner Erasmus Makodza at the Zimbabwe Election Commission's briefing to local and international observers on his readiness.
To date, no official complaint has been received from the aggrieved and, therefore, there is nothing to investigate at this time.
XN: How many ballots did you send through the mail-in voting system and what measures are in place to ensure that the system does not have a ballot? is not handled?
PC: a total of 7,646 requests for postal voting. Of this number, 185 were disqualified for not being registered on the electoral lists.
The commission therefore deals with a total of 7,461 accepted applications, distributed as follows:
Police: 4,616
Defense: 392
Electors: 2,403
Department of Foreign Affairs: 50 [19659004] Total: 7,461
Information on the processing of postal voting is available for the public to inspect and verify, so that the question of manipulation does not arise.
XN: is your reaction to allegations that the presidential ballot was designed to favor President Emmerson Mnangagwa?
CP: The allegations are regrettable and the commission, as has already been explained to stakeholders all the options ahead with the design of the ballot.
The design of a column proposed by a stakeholder involved would have resulted in a long A3 plus ballot and would have required double the amount of paper.
It would also have been difficult for the folded ballot to stand in the open of the ballot box because of its small size.
In addition, this would have meant that more ballots would fill up quickly, which would require more purchases.
The cost-benefit analysis revealed that the option would have required not only an increase in the number of ballots, but also increased production time and the number of ballot boxes to buy.
The two-column design is the design that was adopted by the commission for all ballots with more than 14 candidates, regardless of the type of election, using its discretion after weighing the options available.
The names of the candidates will retain the alphabetical order of the surnames as provided for in article 3 (11) (b) (i) of the SI21 Electoral Regulations of 2005.
However, the parties Stakeholders must remember that the design and printing of ballots remains the exclusive right of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission under Article 239 (g) of the Zimbabwe Constitution.
XN: Why is Zec refusing to accede to requests? by the opposition to inspect the process of printing the ballot?
PC: This is not a legal requirement and Zec trying to build a consensus has invited political parties to observe the printing of the ballot on June 12, 2018, but what gesture was abandoned as a result of illegal and unreasonable demands by some stakeholders on the process.
However, interested stakeholders received a ballot sample to assess the quality and make comparisons on polling day if they had doubts.
XN: Do you think Zimbabweans still trust Zec following last week's incidents that included a massive protest against the way you handle the pre-election period?
PC: That the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission can not know, but it is convinced that it did not
Moreover, the protest and the complaints came from Only one speaker in the electoral process
XN: Independent observers have committed serious errors on the voters lists since they were made public. . What assurance can you give Zimbabweans that these are real mistakes and not deliberate attempts to rig elections?
PC: The problem is that the media also did not respect the right of reply.
She continued to publish falsehoods using sensationalist headlines without asking for the board's opinion or explanation on the issues raised on the voters' board.
However, the commission has already published public notices in the print media explaining some of the false statements made.
The panel of electors produced by the commission is a good product because of the technology used to eliminate duplicates and to avoid doubling the registration.
XN: What is Zec doing to regain public trust?
PC: The commission will continue to respect the law and provide the electorate with the correct information through its voter education programs and its responses to the issues raised.
XN: What is your reaction to the reports that there would be polling stations with only two voters?
PC: This is also false. The commission has since issued polling stations for the next elections.
There was confusion between stakeholders between registration / inspection centers and polling stations.
XN: What are the challenges that you have faced since your appointment as President Zec and have you anticipated? accept the appointment?
PC: The challenges are sensationalist allegations and extrajudicial demands presented as legal rights contrary to the legal framework governing elections.
Yes, I anticipated them because Zimbabwe is a country in transition and some stakeholders will need time to reject them.
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