HARARE – Zimbabwe holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Wednesday in which the top two contenders, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, will battle it out for the right to form the next government.
Below are five facts about the voting:
* Zimbabwe has 6.6 million registered voters who are expected to cast their ballots at 12,374 polling stations dotted around the country.
* Voters directly elect a president, 210 members of parliament and more than 9,000 councillors. 60 women and 10 youths (below 35) will be appointed through proportional representation to the House of Assembly while 60 people will be appointed in the upper Senate chamber via the same system.
* Voting starts at 7AM (0500 GMT) and ends at 7PM (1700 GMT). Vote tallying and counting starts immediately after the close of polls and results for council, parliament and president are posted outside each polling station.
* The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will announce winners for parliament in their constituencies, while results for president will be announced at the commission’s headquarters in Harare within five days of voting.
* A presidential candidate requires 50 percent plus one vote for an outright win. If no candidate gets that, a runoff will be held on October 2 between the top two contestants from the current field of 11.
