The Zimbabwe ballot paper had some scientific magic!!

I have taken time to closely look at the Zimbabwe voting system to check for any possible loopholes that may have allowed anyone in authority to rig elections.

I don't want to comment about the magic ballot paper which is rumoured to have been used in this election. Rumours claim that the ballot paper has some scientific magic that moves the mark from where it was marked to ZANU PF upon folding the ballot paper. I don't want to refuse the possibility of that looking at today's technology but eishhhh that will be the best in the world.

I find loopholes in the following areas of our voting:

1) Voters roll.
It is a fact that the voters roll in Zimbabwe is in serious shambles and its just being "updated" continuously over the years. One would have expected that going into this landmark election under a new constitution our leaders then in the GNU would have simply called for the abandoning of the "current" old roll and called for fresh voter registration.

2) Voter Registration
In the run up to the elections the registering and transfer of voters from one area to another was done so haphazardly that anyone could register as many times as they wanted. Almost all the people who registered to vote in the period running towards the election did not have their names added into the printed voters roll and were told to use voter registration slips as confirmation to vote.

In my research I have discovered some people who had more than one of the voter registration slips. I have as an example someone who transferred his vote from Umguza to Bubi where he wanted to contest as a candidate and he was issued with a slip. When he opted out of contesting in Bubi and wanted a local authority position in a Gwanda ward he transferred his vote from Bubi to Gwanda Central. On registering in Gwanda Central he produced his Bubi Voters Slip but the office did not take it back from him. Before closure of the voter registration exercise for similar reasons he transferred his vote from the Ward in Gwanda Central to a neighbouring ward in Gwanda North where he was also issued with a voter registration slip and the other 2 were not taken back. In all he has 3 voter registration slips and believe it or not his name appears in the Umguza voters roll where it originally was. If he had the zeal he could easily have cast 4 votes and went unnoticed. How many more are this situation and how many more could have done it deliberately and systematic.

3) Issuing of duplicate ID documents for registration.
In the run up to the election it was taking someone exactly 30mins to get a duplicate birth certificate and a duplicate ID card and immediately register to vote. What would have stopped an organised cartel to go out and get as many replacement IDs particularly for "deceased" people and immigrated people and registered to vote. We got so many calls of people living outside the country claiming to have seen their names on the voters roll in areas they have never even been to themself. There was no checking of finger prints when one was applying for a duplicate ID nor checking of the original photograph of the ID being applied for. Some were issued on the spot at mobile voter registration points. How do we know that the right person was issued with the right replacement ID? How many may have taken advantage of this loophole acquired and registered as many times as they wanted in different names.

4) Voting process:
Excluding the gender desk there were six desks processing a voter before they cast their vote.

Usher - who was first checking the little fingure for the red ink to see if one has not voted already. Unlike the other years where this checking was done using an infra red light this time it was done using human eyes and at the usher's discretion.

Voters roll checker: This is the most critical point of the voter scrutiny. There is only one person checking names and he scrolls through pages and pages of the voters roll before "finding" a name and drawing a line over it in pen. In all honesty the election is hanging on us having faith that this one person really and honestly let's in ONLY those people whose names he or she finds in the voters roll. There is a huge possibility that as the que gets longer and the day goes by the person gets tired and no longer so articulate in checking but just peruses and cancels any name on the roll and let's the person through whether registered or not. Noone double checks or assists this person not even the voter can confirm if it was their name cancelled off or not. What then can stop an organised grouping to bring in as many unregistered people as they want to come and vote.

Issuing of Ballot Papers:
There were three people Issuing out ballots, one Issuing the presidential ballot, then House of Assemble then Local Authority. This means that in the collation process the number of ballots issued must be equal on all the votes including spoilt papers.

Checking the figures produced in some constituencies the figures added up for the Presidential, House of Assembly and Council including spoilt papers do not tie up. As far as I noted noone was allowed to refuse to take a ballot paper they would rather have left it blank if they didn't want any of the candidates so isn't there a possibility that may be in some instances some people were deliberately or by mistake issued with more than one ballot? Remember this time ballot papers were not mandatory lifted up in front of the overseer before being put in the ballot box. On opening the ballot box the ballot box was required to be shaken thoroughly before ballots are thrown on the table for counting so much that even those tied together would have separated on counting.

The Red Ink
The red ink that was used is also easily washed off clean with spirit or any other such chemical and cannot be traced back as soon as it is washed off. One wonders why the "traditional" ink that we used in the other elections which was dictated under the UV lamp even after being washed off was not used this time and why the UV lamps were not being used.

So it is easy to conclude that:

1) People may have registered to vote and actually voted more than once using their own names or any other person's name.

2) Unregistered voters may have been systematically bused to organised polling stations and the person manning the voters roll let them through to vote un audited.

3) People using voter registration slips instead of voters roll entry may have also voted more than once using the slips in different polling stations.

4) Since the number of voters for Presidential, HOA and Council including spoilt papers do not tie up there is conclusive possibility that in some instances some people may have been issued with more than one ballot paper.

I wish the audit that the opposition parties are demanding would come out and clarify these issues for me. I really need to understand how after campaigning so hard we lost this election so dismally.