1 zimbabwe election support network [zesn] - Nehanda Radio

IDs], failure to produce foreign citizenship renunciation certificates or eligible voters with
identification documents allegedly being turned away.
Voting problems were generally linked to inconsistencies in voters’ rolls and in the application
of procedures by ZEC at the various polling stations. For example, in Harare Central, voters
were reportedly allowed to vote with registration certificates while in Mbare polling stations
reportedly would not allow that. In Mazoe South Constituency of Sunningdale Polling Station
there were some campaign materials within 100 metres. In one Mt Pleasant case, parents and
children were reportedly registered in different wards and constituencies.
However incidents where polling stations ran out of ballot papers and indelible ink were
generally rare with most reports pointing that voters had their names checked in the voters roll
before they were permitted to vote. Voters were also closely checked for indelible ink on their
fingers.
Closing of Polling Stations
ZESN observers generally agreed with the official vote count at all of the polling stations. All
political party polling agents also agreed with the official vote count. At the close of poll,
everyone in the queue at 1900hrs was permitted to vote. Closing of polling stations and the
counting process largely took place without problems. By 30 th March 2008 ZESN was
encouraging the ZEC to conduct the tabulation of election results as quickly as possible. The
announcement of results in a timely, transparent and accountable manner was critical in
reducing tensions following an election.
ZESN Poll Projections
On 31 March, ZESN had announced the findings of an electoral observation effort using
information gathered by accredited observers from a representative random sample of polling
stations across the ten provinces of the country. This Sample Based Observation [SBO] is a
proven methodology used worldwide to build confidence in the electoral process, reportedly
used in over 20 countries including Zambia, Madagascar and Malawi. Official vote counts were
collected from a representative random sample of 435 polling stations across the ten provinces
of the country. The sample was stratified by province and urban/rural areas to ensure that the
findings were representative.
On the basis of this, ZESN projected the MDC presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai
receiving the highest number of votes in the 29 March 2008 presidential elections, the ruling
party, Robert Gabriel Mugabe receiving the second-highest number of votes with independent
candidate Simba Makoni receiving the third highest number of votes. ZESN poll projections
were as below:
Presidential Poll Projections-29 March 2008 Harmonized Elections
CANDIDATE PROJECTED % VOTE MARGIN OF ERROR 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL
MAKONI, HERBERT STANLEY
SIMBA
8.2% 1.1% 7.1 to 9.3
MUGABE, ROBERT GABRIEL 41.8% 2.6% 39.2 to 44.4
TOWUNGANA, LANGTON 0.6% 0.1% 0.5 to 0.7
TSVANGIRAI, MORGAN 49.4% 2.4% 47.0 to 51.8
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