ZEC should postpone polls or face chaos

An independent election monitoring watchdog, the Elections Resources Centre has called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission demanding a poll delay to prevent chaos and instability emanating from shambolic preparations.

The ERC said the electoral body was unprepared to conduct a credible election, citing the special voting process that was characterised by chaos, particularly lack of ballot papers, resulting in thousands of police officers failing to cast their votes.

ERC said ZEC's unpreparedness was a security threat that could "spawn instability in the country and reverse all the gains that Zimbabwe stands to benefit from the conduct of a free and fair election."

ZEC said that it was ready to conduct the harmonised elections as long as funding was availed.

However, ERC said ZEC's unpreparedness started showing a long time ago, citing the chaotic voter registration exercise and failure to release the voters' roll on time.