Reporting Elections, Safety and Security of Journalists

Elections in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, elections are regulated by the Constitution
of Zimbabwe as well as the Electoral Act. Chapter 7
of the Constitution outlines electoral principles that
Zimbabwe should adhere to, while Part 2 of Chapter
12 of the Constitution establishes an Independent
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which is tasked
with the running of Zimbabwe’s electoral process. ZEC’s
obligations include, but is not limited to the demarcation
of constituency and ward boundaries and registration of
voters.
The obligations extend to the accreditation of journalists
covering Zimbabwean elections and monitoring the
conduct of the media during the elections.
Besides responsibility to provide voter education, ZEC also
monitors voter education provided by other organisations
such as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN)
for correctness and impartiality.
Rights to Voter’s Roll
The law states that the voters’ rolls should be more
accessible to the public and that ZEC shall provide copies
of rolls at cost to candidates and political parties, in both
print and electronic versions.
ZEC is required to provide a sufficient number of
conveniently situated polling stations and to
allow input from political parties on their location.
After counting of votes at polling stations, results to be

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