In the city of Nampula there are difficulties in using results sheets (editais) that are not properly stamped and signed. There are polling stations with two conficting editais. For example, at polling station 04, in EP1 Nahene, there is an edital that Renamo believes to be false, in which Frelimo obtained 592 votes. For the same polling station, there is another edital (that Renamo believes to be true) where Frelimo has only 92.
Indeed, there are polling stations in Nampula where Frelimo obtained more than 800 votes, out of a register with 800 voters. These are editais with votes in favour of Frelimo, whose details are different from those on the notices posted in the polling stations.
Tabulation work is paralysed because there is no consensus. The Electoral Commission is moving the tabulation from the Nampula Secondary School to the Electoral Commission headquarters. The opposition opposes this, claiming that the site does not have security guarantees for the vote count. But the Frelimo representatives on the STAE are moving the tabulation.
---------------
STAE gives Frelimo many close victories
Official results give Frelimo victory in Vilankulos, Inhambane, by 34 Votes. In Quelimane victory has been given to Frelimo, but Renamo claimed this was achieved by substituting editais.
Frelimo steals 3000 votes in Marromeu - unnecessarily
The parallel vote count by Mais Integridade observers shows a massive fraud in Marromeu, adding more than 3000 votes for Frelimo. But the parallel count also shows it was unnecessary - Frelimo would have won legitimately.
In Mozambique there are two ways to steal votes. One simply putting extra paper ballots in the box. This we cannot check. But the other is to inflate the totals after the counting is done. During the count the tabulation is recorded on the classroom blackboard as the presiding officer calls out each vote. The blackboard represents the true count but is often erased as soon as the count finishes. The final official results sheet, the edital, often has extra votes for Frelimo. This happened in Marromeu. Our observers record both the blackboard and the edital so that we can investigate any differences.
For example, at Julius Nyerere school, two polling stations showed 88% and 83% turnout, and the edital had 124 and 232 more votes for Frelimo than were on the blackboard. Polling stations in the same school where the edital agreed with the blackboard had turnouts of 51% to 69%. The official high turnout is ghost voters added to the edital.
So far, we have parallel count reports from 28 of 41 polling stations in Marromeu. Of the 28, 11 are clearly inflated, raising the Frelimo vote by 2944 ghost voters. It is easy to do local comparisons, because in every school some polling stations are inflated and other have reported honestly. The most extreme case is a polling station 25 June school with a 98% turnout and 758 votes for Frelimo, compared to 316 on the blackboard.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The irony is that the widespread vote inflation was unnecessary. From the results recorded on the blackboard in the 28 polling stations Frelimo has 61%, Renamo 17%, and MDM 12%.
---------------
Riots and shootings in Milange
The announcement of results in Milange, Zambezia, caused unrest. Renamo supporters rioted at the entrance to the District Electoral Commission (CDE) to demand that the results not be published, claiming that they are false and tainted by ballot box stuffing.
First, the police used tear gas to push the local population home. The police ended up shooting three citizens with real bullets in an attempt to calm the tempers of the vendors in the Central Market. The police closed the central market on "superior orders", which created discontent among the vendors and further unrest. Two women were injured, a dried fish vendor who was shot in the buttock and a pregnant woman who was shot in the upper limb. A young man was also shot in the buttock. The atmosphere remains tense throughout most of the municipality
Despite this atmosphere, the CDE released the mid-term results in a ceremony that was only witnessed by members of the CDE and STAE. The results confirm Frelimo's victory with 60% and Renamo 38% and the MDM 2%.
