Elections were held within a highly contested environment and atmosphere with voter turnout reduced by an average of 6% at polling stations in urban areas due to delays in ballot paper delivery, a detailed post-election report has revealed.
According to the report by the Election Resource Centre (ERC), there was a 64.8% voter turnout at urban polling stations that opened on time compared to 58.8% at polling stations that experienced delays.
On election day, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission failed to deliver local authority ballot papers on time resulting in most polling stations in urban areas delaying the voting processes.
The report was compiled following the deployment of 188 observers across polling stations, targeting constituencies with a rural-urban voting demographic.
In rural areas, voter turnout at polling stations that opened on time stood at 70.2% while stations that opened late recorded a percentage lower of 69.2%.
"80% of polling stations observed, voting had started by 07:15, and were not affected by delays in the opening of polling yet at those polling stations voter turnout dropped by an average over 10% indicating a general decline in voter turnout not solely attributed to delays in opening of polling stations," read the report.
According to ERC, national voter turnout for the 2023 harmonised election stood at 68.9%.
At observed polling stations, the observed voter turnout was 66.5%, 2.4% lower than the national turnout average.
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The ERC revealed that at observed polling stations located in rural areas, turnout was 70.3%.
"5.0% above the average turnout at observed polling stations, and 2.4% above the national average, while in urban areas turnout was 64.2%, which translated to 1,1% above the observed average and 4.7% below national average.
"The statistics above show that there was a higher voter turnout in rural constituencies than in urban ones. The ruling ZANU PF has enjoyed significant support from the rural areas since its inception, whilst the CCC receives most of its support from urban constituencies.," read the report.
In terms of voter turnout between rural and urban areas, ERC said: "76.4% of rural polling stations recorded a voter turnout above the observed average of 66.5%, while 42% of the urban polling stations noted turnout higher than the average.
"The ERC notes that in observed polling stations a total of 30,458 registered voters did not cast their votes representing 33.5% of the total voter population. 20,726 (68%) of the 30,458 registered voters did not cast their votes at polling locations in urban areas, while the remaining 8,952 (32%) found at polling stations in rural areas."
The report by the ERC compliments sentiments shared by most Election Observer Missions (EOMs) who said the general elections were held under a restricted political environment.
"The SADC Election Observer Mission Report that was/is critical and factual of the obtaining environment as pertaining to the credibility of the process, remains contested by the ruling party while many other observation missions carry the same findings albeit presented in diplomatic language," read the ERC report.
