Opinion / Columnist
Verifying Zimbabwe presidential election results might take 2 days
26 Aug 2023 at 19:52hrs | Views
VERIFYING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULT MIGHT TAKE TWO DAYS
If the verification and determination of the result for the 2023 Presidential election is completed tonight, that will be a historic first.
In the past, including in the 2018 harmonised general election, the verification of the result for the Presidential election at the National Command Centre has taken at least two days.
On the one hand, the process is done in terms of section 37(4)(f) (i) and (ii) of the Electoral Act to arrive at a the election return V23D with the initial result for the Presidential election, which the Chief Elections Officer collates at the National Command Centre on the basis of the V23C presidential election returns collated by Provincial Election Officers at each of the country's Provincial Command Centres; and the other hand, the process involves the determination and declaration of the final result for the Presidential election in terms of section 110(3) of the Electoral Act which involves the collation by the Chief Elections Officer of V23B presidential constituency election returns certified by each of the 210 Constituency Elections Officers and sent directly by hand to the Chief Elections Officer at the National Command Centre.
At this stage, the V23B certified by Constituency Elections Officer is the most critical Presidential election return. Attached to it original certified V11s from all the polling stations in the constituency and V23As from all the wards in the constituency.
This is what the ZEC Election Officers Manual says about the critical importance of the V23B, presidential constituency election return:
"The Constituency Elections Officer must verify that each and every original V23A Form has Its required original V11 Forms attached. If any such forms are missing or are deemed to be copies, then these must under no circumstances be accepted! …
The Constituency Elections Officer may only complete the V23B Form after receiving the original V23A Forms along with all their relevant original V11 Forms attached.
Under no circumstances is the Constituency Elections Officer allowed to complete an entry for a ward's Collated Return on the V23B Constituency Collation Form if he/she does not have the original V23A Form (along with ALL the relevant original V11 Forms) in his/her possession! The key thing to note here is that original Forms are required at every step in the process!
After all the results of every Ward in that Constituency have been captured, only then are the Ward entries on the V23B Form deemed to be complete. The totals must be summed up thereafter, double-checked. Once that is done all that remains is for the Constituency Elections Officer and the relevant stakeholders to sign the V23B Form.
The V23B Form is complete when it contains all the collated results for all the Wards in that Constituency. The relevant stakeholders (if present) must be requested to sign the completed V23B Form. Remember that at the back of every V23B Form, all the original V23A Forms with every one of their original V11 Forms must be attached!
It is a serious violation of the prescribed results aggregation procedures if any original V23A or its V11 Forms are missing for any of the captured Ward entries on the V23B Form! …
Note that the winner of the Presidential Election is not announced at the Constituency Command Centre – instead, the winner of the Presidential Election will only be announced later on at ZEC Head Office by the Chief Elections Officer".
If the verification and determination of the result for the 2023 Presidential election is completed tonight, that will be a historic first.
In the past, including in the 2018 harmonised general election, the verification of the result for the Presidential election at the National Command Centre has taken at least two days.
On the one hand, the process is done in terms of section 37(4)(f) (i) and (ii) of the Electoral Act to arrive at a the election return V23D with the initial result for the Presidential election, which the Chief Elections Officer collates at the National Command Centre on the basis of the V23C presidential election returns collated by Provincial Election Officers at each of the country's Provincial Command Centres; and the other hand, the process involves the determination and declaration of the final result for the Presidential election in terms of section 110(3) of the Electoral Act which involves the collation by the Chief Elections Officer of V23B presidential constituency election returns certified by each of the 210 Constituency Elections Officers and sent directly by hand to the Chief Elections Officer at the National Command Centre.
At this stage, the V23B certified by Constituency Elections Officer is the most critical Presidential election return. Attached to it original certified V11s from all the polling stations in the constituency and V23As from all the wards in the constituency.
This is what the ZEC Election Officers Manual says about the critical importance of the V23B, presidential constituency election return:
"The Constituency Elections Officer must verify that each and every original V23A Form has Its required original V11 Forms attached. If any such forms are missing or are deemed to be copies, then these must under no circumstances be accepted! …
The Constituency Elections Officer may only complete the V23B Form after receiving the original V23A Forms along with all their relevant original V11 Forms attached.
Under no circumstances is the Constituency Elections Officer allowed to complete an entry for a ward's Collated Return on the V23B Constituency Collation Form if he/she does not have the original V23A Form (along with ALL the relevant original V11 Forms) in his/her possession! The key thing to note here is that original Forms are required at every step in the process!
After all the results of every Ward in that Constituency have been captured, only then are the Ward entries on the V23B Form deemed to be complete. The totals must be summed up thereafter, double-checked. Once that is done all that remains is for the Constituency Elections Officer and the relevant stakeholders to sign the V23B Form.
The V23B Form is complete when it contains all the collated results for all the Wards in that Constituency. The relevant stakeholders (if present) must be requested to sign the completed V23B Form. Remember that at the back of every V23B Form, all the original V23A Forms with every one of their original V11 Forms must be attached!
It is a serious violation of the prescribed results aggregation procedures if any original V23A or its V11 Forms are missing for any of the captured Ward entries on the V23B Form! …
Note that the winner of the Presidential Election is not announced at the Constituency Command Centre – instead, the winner of the Presidential Election will only be announced later on at ZEC Head Office by the Chief Elections Officer".
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