Voting in Zimbabwe’s election has been extended by another day after huge delays in the delivery of ballot papers to some wards.
The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, issued a decree late on Wednesday to extend voting by another day in 40 wards across Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland Central and Manicaland, as the government tried to salvage polling that had been described as “shambolic”.
There were long delays at polling stations. Zimbabweans determined to cast their vote had remained in queues as the electoral body failed to deliver ballot papers.
“I will not leave this place until I cast my vote. This is my constitutional right and I can not let this opportunity to cause change slip,” said Maynard Mukahlera, 23, while he sat with friends at a primary school in Harare.
Cuthbert Mudzingwa, 40, was elated to finally cast his vote after 10pm on Wednesday in Budiriro, a densely populated suburb of Harare. “Many people left and came back. There was no way I would sleep without casting my vote,” he said.
Some polling stations were still to receive election material by the end of Wednesday as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission tried to reassure voters, tempers flared and the opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) alleged possible vote rigging.
The CCC encouraged its supporters to go out and vote despite the delays.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-profit organisation, said about 40 civil society activists who were monitoring polls had been arrested, with police allegedly confiscating computers and monitoring material.
According to the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network, an election watchdog, the delays were in urban areas that were opposition strongholds.
The vote is Zimbabwe’s second general election since Robert Mugabe was overthrown in 2017. The poll is taking place amid an ever-worsening economic situation, with inflation remaining among the highest in the world.
Mnangagwa is seeking a second term but his rival Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the CCC, has vowed to reject a “rigged” vote.
Chamisa addressed journalists in Harare late on Wednesday and accused the electoral commission of conniving with the ruling Zanu-PF party to disfranchise voters in the capital and Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, which are both traditionally opposition strongholds.
“The fact that they have targeted Harare, Bulawayo is an indication that they are scared of people in the urban areas,” he said.
Political analysts say the delays in voting will affect the result, and predict an electoral challenge afterwards.
Mnangagwa narrowly defeated Chamisa five years ago and pledged to tackle the country’s decades-long economic crisis “head on” in his first term, but unemployment, inflation and falls in the value of the Zimbabwean dollar have persisted.
Zimbabwe has a history of disputed elections since its independence from the UK in 1980. Human rights groups said in the run-up to Wednesday’s vote that the same factors that blighted previous elections – electoral roll irregularities, public media bias, and the use of law enforcement and the courts to hamstring opposition campaigns – remained.
To win the presidency, a candidate will need to win more than 50% of the vote and two-thirds of the seats in parliament to claim a majority.
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