AN elderly woman was determined to cast her vote in Harare's Avondale suburb earlier today (Blog Editor: Picture above shows veteran member of the Harare Jewish Community, Babs Naim in wheelchair accompanied by her helper and Mary Levinson on left.)
Source: http://www.zimonline.co.za/
HARARE – Voting in Zimbabwe’s key elections ended peacefully on Saturday with most voters having succeeded in casting their ballots by the close of polling at 7pm.
It was however not possible to establish from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) the exact figures of Zimbabweans who had voted in the election.
Some reports suggested that some voters had been turned away from polling stations after their names were not found on the voters’ register that has been condemned by Zimbabwe’s main opposition party as flawed.
ZEC senior polling officer in the second city of Bulawayo, Innocent Ncube, refused to say how many voters had cast their ballots saying the details, which have been released during past polls, will not be provided to the media.
ZEC chairperson George Chiweshe said in an interview that all polling stations had closed at 7pm and counting of votes had begun.
“Polling stations have closed and counting has started,” said Chiweshe.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said earlier tonight that it was worried by the high number of assisted voters in President Robert Mugabe’s rural strongholds of Mashonaland East and Central provinces.
The MDC said the number of assisted voters in the two provinces was too high raising fears that the government wanted to manipulate figures there to steal the election.
“We have received reports that close to more than half of the voters in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central province have been assisted to vote and this is worrying in a country with a high literacy rate like Zimbabwe,” said MDC spokesman, Nelson Chamisa.
Chiweshe said he was still receiving reports from around the country and was therefore not in a position to comment on the opposition’s concerns. He also said it was still too early to state when the first results would be available.
“We are still receiving reports from around the country and therefore I cannot say much. If I do not get all the reports tonight it might have to be tomorrow that’s why I’m unable to say when we can start briefings,” said Chiweshe.
Several people who spoke to ZimOnline earlier in the day said they were desperate to see political change in Zimbabwe after years of repression and bad governance by Mugabe.
“We are hoping for change but I do not know what will happen if Mugabe rigs the election,” said Pamela Ncube a first time voter from Nkulumane constituency in Bulawayo.
Milton Sibanda said prospects for Kenya-style prospects in Zimbabwe were too ghastly to contemplate adding that he wanted a peaceful election were losers would accept gracefully accept defeat.
“The consequences of a rigged election are frightening. I do not want violence in Zimbabwe but I shudder to think of what will happen if Mugabe steals the election again,” said Milton Sibanda.
Mugabe, in power since the country’s independence from Britain 28 years ago, said on Saturday that he will not rig the election as his conscience would not allow him to do so.
Meanwhile, the International Bar Association (IBA) urged election authorities and accredited international observers to take all necessary steps to ensure that the will of the Zimbabwean electorate was not thwarted.
Zimbabwe barred election observers from Western countries and only invited observers from the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other groups deemed not hostile to the government.
“They (invited observers) should not fail the Zimbabwean people by endorsing a process that falls below acceptable standards,” said IBA executive director, Mark Ellis.
The IBA said Zimbabweans have endured a series of deeply flawed elections but kept their faith in democracy saying this restraint and faith in elections was now wearing thin.
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