BULAWAYO – THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has yielded to opposition protests and formally announced that it has scrapped plans to change the design of the polling booths for Monday’s general elections, which would have seen voters marking their ballots with their backs in full view of polling officer.
Civic society groups and opposition parties had raised concerns that ZEC was compromising the secrecy of the vote, arguing that voting while being watched by polling officers was intimidatory.
ZEC Commissioner Qhubani Moyo confirmed they would now revert to the old polling booth set-up where one marks their ballots out of clear sight of election officials.
Addressing a meeting with political parties in Harare on Tuesday, Moyo said the commission had “resolved to maintain the old ballot booth set-up since there was inadequate voter education on the proposed changes.”
The chairperson of the Election Situation Room (ESR), Jenny Williams, noted that the secrecy of the vote has been an area of concern in the pre-election period.
She said changes in the ZEC polling manual on the layout of the polling station, and the
positioning of the polling booths, did not help to build citizens confidence.
“Considering that this is a country that has a history on intimidation, fear and where citizens don’t have confidence in the secrecy of their vote and the electoral process in general, the credibility of an election process hinges on the universality of one man, one vote, in secret,” she told reporters in Bulawayo.
Williams highlighted that although ZEC was reversing its decision and training polling staff
under the original polling booth station design, ESR would continue to monitor for consistency in training and on election day.
“People must mark their ballots in secret, and we will check for compliance on Election Day,” she added.
The ZEC concession on the ballot booths will go some way to mollify opposition parties, who are still battering ZEC demanding accountability over ballot papers. The opposition wants to audit the printed ballot papers “batch by batch”, according to MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa.
ZEC said it is considering opposition demands made at Tuesday’s meeting in Harare.
