A Renamo delegate in Morrumbala, Zambézia, was arrested Friday after protesting that at least 120 names of Renamo members have been replaced on the electoral roll by other people. Artur Singano Lampião is representative for Renamo in Majoão neighbourhood. Police accuse him of mobilizing Renamo member to verify their registration after the official date to do this. He is still detained.
Renamo obtained an up-to-date copy of the roll, and checked to see if its members were on the list, and so far has found the 120 members have been removed from the voters roll. Renamo has provided a list of the people removed and the names of their replacements.
Below is an excerpt from the Renamo list of replaced names on the register for polling stations at 25 de June primary school (original name, left, and substitution name, right) and below are the voters cards for those two people. On the first line of the card, in brackets, is the registration post (the school) number, then register book number (01), and then the card number.
Importance of collecting and recording voters cards
STAE confirms that anyone with a voters card can vote, even if their name is not in the register book. So, in principle, these people in Morrumbala, can still vote. But the practice is different.
Frelimo has been accused not just of manipulating the voters rolls, but also of naming key polling station presidents (heads). Thus when these people present their card, the head may simply say you cannot vote because you are not on the roll, or because someone with that card number has already voted. In practice, it will be very hard to challenge the polling station president.
The other issue in past elections and again this year is local officials and Frelimo people either collecting cards or taking down names and card numbers. Without cards people can still vote if they have identification and are on the list, but many people do not know that, so if they have handed in their card they will not vote.
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When people vote, their name is ticked in the electoral role, creating a count that should match the ballot papers in the box. A common fraud we have reported in previous election is in the mid-afternoon when the polling station is quiet and no one is watching, these lists are used to tick off those names of people who have not voted. Sometimes extra ballot papers with votes for Frelimo are put into the box. Alternatively the extra votes for Frelimo are added when the final result sheet (known as the edital) is written. In either case, Frelimo is given the votes of people whose names and numbers have been collected, but have not voted. Frelimo may argue that we know they meant to vote for us, but did not have time to come and vote. The president or someone from Frelimo makes sure that the numbers of the final edital add up correctly, and that the number of people said to have voted includes the extra "ghost" voters.
These frauds are only possible if observers or party delegates are not watching. But in mid-afternoon they usually take a break. And during the count, observers and party delegates often do not keep a record of the actual vote, so they do not notice that the edital is different.
