Zimbabwe Votes in Harmonised Elections

About 6.4 million registered Zimbabwean voters will tomorrow 31 July elect a president among five candidates which includes the country’s current President, 89-year-old Robert Mugabe, and current Prime Minister, 61-year-old Morgan Tsvangirai as well as elect Parliamentarians and other sub-national political officers. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says it is ready to conduct the elections and has prepared enough ballot papers to cover the 6.4 million registered voters plus an additional 35 percent for contingencies. The 35 percent additional ballots bring the total to about 8.7 million ballot papers and adds that almost all ballot papers has been dispatched to all provinces within Zimbabwe. According to ZEC, a total of 9 735 polling stations will be opened continuously from when voting starts at 7am and closes at 7pm and has employed over 96,000 poll workers with each polling station being serviced by at least 10 polling officials. “We have enough indelible ink in the provinces. We have enough copies of the voters’ roll in the provinces and we have enough men and women as polling officers in the provinces. So with all those basic ingredients in place, we are assured of having an election on 31 July 2013.” Says ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau. This election will be the first harmonized poll under the country's new constitution and for the presidency, the winner is decided by an absolute majority. If no candidate receives 50% + 1 of valid votes in the first round, a second round will be conducted between the top two candidates on September 11, 2013. AEP Get the latest news and updates on elections in Africa by following us on twitter @africanelections and like our facebook page