ZEC living on a ballot and a prayer
By Dr Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
Given the chaos that characterised Day 1 of the Special Vote on Sunday with one station receiving only ballot paper at one stage, it’s fair to say that ZEC will be on ‘a ballot and a prayer’ come polling day 31 July.
Despite attempts by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to blame the chaotic slow start of Special Voting yesterday on MDC appeals over the results of the Nomination Court, Zec deputy chair, Joyce Kazembe contradicted herself saying “The printing of ballot papers delayed even beyond our expectation” (The Herald, ZEC blames delays on MDC appeals, 15/07/13).
External attribution for failure and internal attribution for success is a common human habit.
A question everyone is asking is how the ZEC will suddenly manage to service up to 6 million voters with ballots for presidential, parliamentary and council elections within 24 hours when they have failed to service the controversial 80 000 special voters in 48 hours.
Kazembe then inadvertently said all ballot papers have serial numbers for accountability purposes, something that might cause some people to think that their vote is not secret. Your Vote Is Secret.
Clifford has been invited to provide a live comment tomorrow on Arise cable/satellite TV channel between 2 and 3 p.m. on the Zimbabwe elections. He will also be providing commentary on the polling on July 31.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, [email protected]
