THE frequency of disputed elections in Zimbabwe, the most recent being the August 23 polls, will discourage more registered voters from participating in electoral processes, electoral watchdogs and analysts have warned.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was announced winner of the presidential race in last month’s polls, but the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa is disputing the results.
CCC has accused Mnangagwa and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) of election fraud and is calling for fresh elections.
According to Zec, about two million registered voters failed to vote out of approximately 6,6 million eligible voters, a trend analysts said was worrying.
In an interview, political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said disputed elections would drive away people from polling stations.
“Lack of political reforms will push people away from voting,” he said.
Another political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said the young generation had lost confidence in elections because of disputed results.
“Voter apathy is a global trend and we need to work on it as a country. However, political parties must emphasise on democratic obligations of elections,” Ngwenya said.
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Romeo Chasara, another political anlyst, said voter apathy could undermine the legitimacy of future elections.
“The political instability and the intimidation of voters have created a climate of fear which is discouraging many Zimbabweans from participating in the political process,” Chasara said.
“This is a worrying trend as it could undermine the legitimacy of the next elections and further weaken democracy in Zimbabwe. In order to address voter apathy, government needs to ensure that elections are free and fair.”
The Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust executive director, Ignatious Sadziwa, attributed voter apathy to intimidation.
“We attribute that to heavy intimidation witnessed in most rural areas where Forever Associates Zimbabwe was deployed to scare villagers,” Sadziwa said.
“Delays in the arrival of voting material in most urban polling stations also discouraged most voters from participating.”
Election Resource Centre legal and advocacy officer Takunda Tsunga said apathy had been worsened by Zec’s lack of independence.
“While there had been general apathy in the build up to the election, the turnout was worsened by what seems to be systematic administrative efforts by the commission to deny citizens especially in urban areas equal opportunity to vote in the election,” Tsunga said.
