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Zimbabwe Election 2013

August 2, 2013 by · Comments Off on Zimbabwe Election 2013 

Zimbabwe Election 2013, Zimbabweans have voted in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections – the first since polls marred by violence five years ago.

Campaigning was mostly peaceful, with few reports of intimidation but there were allegations of fraud relating to the voters’ roll.

Zanu-PF’s President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are the main presidential contenders. The poll ends their fractious power-sharing governing.

Correspondents around the country summed up how voting went on Wednesday.

Harare: Brian Hungwe
In Harare queues are meandering around polling stations – people are queuing with enthusiasm and determination.

At the five polling stations across the city I have visited, the atmosphere was calm and most of the voters have been speaking of the hope that the outcome will make a huge difference in their lives.

Zimbabwe election: Key facts
The issues of jobs, economic stability and health are on their minds.

The polling officers told me some voters had been turned away for various reasons, such as because their names are missing from the voters’ roll in their ward.

The majority of these are newly registered voters – and party agents are having to intervene to get electoral officials to check with the electoral commission’s national command centre to see if the names are on the constituency register.

If the name is verified, they can go ahead and vote, but it is a long tedious process which voters are finding frustrating.

Also polling officers are often having to use their own phones to communicate with the command centre and some do not have enough credit on their mobiles to make the necessary calls.

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