1 zimbabwe election support network [zesn] - Nehanda Radio

of Assembly and Senate] boundaries. It also caused confusion for the nomination process
within political parties, in some cases forcing re-runs of some primaries. Parliamentarians were
not given adequate opportunity to debate the Delimitation report and make any
recommendations for changes to the setting of constituency boundaries. Failure to allow this
debate and to hear the recommendations of the parliamentarians flies in the face of the letter
and spirit of the constitutional provisions. In future, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which
is now responsible for delimiting constituencies and other electoral boundaries must be obliged
to give public notice before embarking on a delimitation exercise and “so far as is practicable
within the time available” entertain representations from political parties and other interested
parties who are likely to be affected by its decisions, stick to universal principles of
representatives, equal voting strength and serviceability, independence and professionalism.
Nominations
While nomination processes were largely transparent, there are concerns with multiple
candidates from same political parties attempting to file nomination papers, developments that
resulted in sporadic intra-party violence at nomination courts. Nomination papers were rejected
or disqualified due among other factors to, inadequate papers, candidates being nominated by
persons who are not registered as voters, the prospective candidate’s name not appearing on
the voters’ roll or on the basis that the candidate was alien. Problems also arose from the use
of a manual system [use of hard copies of the voters’ rolls to verify registration of candidates
and supporters], limited use of computers, and use of small, often cramped venues as
nomination courts invariably limited public access to the nomination process. To strengthen
nomination processes and practices, it is recommended that:
• In order to avoid that disappointment of failing to lodge their papers,
prospective candidates should ensure that their papers are in order well in
advance. The provisions of the law, which allow filing of papers before
nomination day, could also be used.
• Political parties should also ensure that their candidates have the correct
particulars that qualify them as candidates so that rejection of nomination
papers on clearly justifiable grounds is reduced.
• Adequate funding should be allocated to Electoral Commission to ensure
efficient management of nomination processes.
• ZEC should ensure that citizens receive relevant education of the electoral
process to enable them to exercise rights such as standing for election.
• Adequate information should be disseminated on the requirements of
candidates for all contested seats to be done in time to reduce rejection of
nomination papers.
• Timeous availability of information on ward and constituency boundaries so
that nominees are identified from the correct wards and constituencies.
• Adequate dissemination of voter information so that prospective candidates
know the actual venues of the nomination courts.
• Uniform, collective and timeous announcement of nominated candidates to
avoid speculative reporting by the media and other stakeholders.
Access to State Media
While the pre-29 March era witnessed some visible effort to allow advertisements and air time
to different political parties on state controlled radio and television stations [though late and still
biased in favor of the ruling party], the post era cast an incomparable contrast. Contrary to
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