Zimbabwe votes for a president to lead the country for the next 5 years

Voting has officially opened today,Wednesday, August 23, 2023 across more than 12,300 polling stations in Zimbabwe. It is expected that close to 6.6 million registered voters will cast their ballots to elect members of parliament, the president, and councilors who will run the affairs of the country for the next 5 years. 

This will be the second general election since former President Robert Mugabe was ousted from office following a coup in 2017.

In all, there are 12 presidential candidates on the ballot. However, the main contest is expected to be between 80 year old  President Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the  Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Party, who is nicknamed “The Crocodile”, and 45-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).

Opposition leader Chamisa is hopeful he will break the 43-year rule of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Party, while Mnangagwa is seeking his second and final term in office.

Beyond the presidential elections, Zimbabweans will also vote for 210 national lawmakers and 1,970 local government and municipal leaders.

Although polls were opened on time, some polls have remained closed due to “logistical issues”.

According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, vote counting will start as soon as polling stations close, and parliamentary results are expected to trickle in over the course of thursday morning. The presidential result is also expected to come later, though well ahead of a five-day deadline.

For a candidate to be declared the winner of the presidential election, he or she must secure more than 50 percent of the total votes cast. If there is no outright winner, a run-off between the top two candidates will be held on October 2.

Unlike the presidential election, the parliamentary and local council candidates only need a simple majority of votes cast.

It is believed that the cost-of-living crisis in Zimbabwe, coupled with crippling power outages and an unstable local currency, are some of the key issues that will shape this year’s election.

Meanwhile, polls are expected to close at 7 p.m. (17:00 GMT) to make way for counting.

 AEP

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